Walking with Death
by Indilwenlily
Summary: Two months after the epilogue of Walking with Insanity, the team gets a familiar visitor, who brings a team of enemies with him. One in particular seems to have an odd obsession with Robin. T for violence, no pairings! Was Trouble Magnets
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey guys! It's LOG again, back with yet another Young Justice story! Let me know what you think, by just hitting the little button at the end of the chapter and leaving a review. I'm gonna try to get chapters up as fast as I can, but Summer is over and I am now juggling school, so I just ask for patience and if you do that, I will update as often as I can. So just sit back and enjoy the story! ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any of the other characters who may appear.

Prologue:

I've always wondered why I'm such a trouble magnet. I mean, really. It seems like everywhere I go, trouble seems to find me. And with trouble comes danger, which always seems to make it worse.  
>This whole trouble thing started when I was about 6 years old. I thought the lion at Haley's circus was just about the most amazing thing in the world. I would watch the tamer feed it every day until one day, after he fed the lion, I decided that I would go in and say hello to it. It didn't realize at the time that lions were incredibly dangerous animals, so it just seemed like a giant cat.<br>I unlocked the cage and went in to try and pet it, but I ended up with a giant scratch on my arm. It didn't take my parents long to figure out where I was, and when they found me sitting outside of the cage, they realized right away what had happened. Then they saw the blood on my arm, and went into a whole lecture about why I can't go near the lion, because it didn't really want to be my friend after all… it just wanted to eat me.  
>Then there was the time when the Mobster, Tony Zucco murdered my parents. We were trapeze artists, so when Haley wouldn't give Zucco the money he wanted, he put acid on the trapeze ropes, causing my parents to fall to their deaths.<br>There were several other occurrences in the past 4 years since Bruce Wayne took me in, but before now, the most recent was with my friends Wally and Kaldur'ahm. We were on our own superhero team together, the Young Justice League, but when the Joker came crashing into our lair one day, the three of us were taken into a whole other world where day was dark and night was light. When we finally thought we were going to escape the new world, we were locked up by the Joker, who teamed up with Cadmus. Wally and Kaldur were going to be taken by Cadmus, which meant that I was left alone with the Joker.  
>I was tortured for a week, being injected with a new kind of laughing gas. I was also branded with a swirly "J" that still glowed a slight pink, after four months.<br>When Batman came to rescue us, we were attacked by a clone of me created by Cadmus. I still don't know what I was thinking, but I was able to use all of my strength to leap out of Batman's arms and take the blow from the clone's glaive. I still have a really nasty scar from that, too.  
>This time, though, I'm afraid of what might happen. The Joker wanted me for entertainment, but this new enemy wants so much more from me. So much that I can't give him. But the only way for him to leave me alone is for me to die.<br>So here I am now, unable to move as I bleed out onto the factory floor. I can feel strong arms around me, and cries of anguish. It must be Batman. He knew this was how it had to end, but it still hurts to do this to him; to leave him alone like this, while I go and see my parents.  
>Mom and Dad should be proud, though. I mean, I came this far. I became a hero, I left revenge behind. I walked with insanity and still made it through. Yeah, they would be proud, but now it all seems silly.<br>I did all that, escaped death so many times, just to die here, in Bruce's arms, bleeding everywhere.  
>I can hear the masked man crying, too, but not out of grief, but anger. He's shouting something along the lines of "Not Robin! He was mine! I was so close!"<br>And then his cries are cut off and I hear Wally. My best friend. No! I think. I don't want him to see me like this. I don't want him to regret letting me come alone.  
>I have one regret; leaving Bruce and the team behind. Leaving Barb, Wally, Artemis, M'gann, Kaldur and Connor, leaving my family.<br>I see the light getting closer, and the forms of my parents. I smile at them, but they frown. Why are they frowning? They should be proud of me!  
>"You can't come yet, Dick," Dad says.<br>"You need to go back to them, sweetie," Mom smiles.  
>"But I want to see you!" I say, still getting closer. "You miss you guys!"<br>"I know, and we miss you too, son," it's Dad. He looks happy, but also disappointed.  
>"We want you to come, but it's not time. You can get through this, Richard, just have faith. Batman needs you by his side more than we do. The world needs you, Dick."<br>I look at both of my parents. They were right, Batman needed me, but… "I can't beat him though! I can't fight back!"  
>"Yes, you can!" Dad says, grabbing my shoulders as I reach them finally. "You're strong, Richard! You left the path of revenge! You played the Jokers game and you won. You can beat him."<br>"How can I beat him?" I ask. "I don't even know his name, let alone his powers!"  
>"We can't tell you his powers," Mom says, looking sad. "But his name…"<br>"You need to promise us that you'll go back," Dad says, holding out his pinky finger.  
>I look at it and think. They're right. I can win. I can defeat him, whoever he is. I nod and grab his large pinky in my own, smaller one.<br>Suddenly, the light starts fading. Mom and Dad are leaving and I'm returning to the pain, the cries, and the darkness.  
>"Wait!" I cry. "You didn't tell me his name!"<br>Mom looks back at me, "His name… is Slade."

A/N: Ok, also, if you review, please be honoest; was adding Slade a wee bit cliché? Really, it was just too tempting to pass up.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

From a Whole Other World

I woke with a start. Things had gotten a lot better since I started going on missions again, but I still had some nightmares every once in a while. They were getting less and less frequent, though, so I didn't worry about them, though Bruce had said to wake him up if I had one, but it didn't seem necessary anymore. I was 13 years old, so waking up my adoptive father other a nightmare was kind of embarrassing.

I looked at the bedside alarm clock. 5 am, just enough time to train before getting ready for school.

I made my way through the Batcave and into the gym, where I did several acrobatic tricks, flips, kicks, punches, etc. I worked until my watch alarm went off, then I headed up back into the mansion and to the shower. I dried and combed my hair, parting it to one side, and pulled on my uniform bottoms.

It was the first day of school. I had to be careful around Artemis now. I couldn't do any Robin-like things, or else she would find me out. So now I had to go back to being Dick Grayson, ward of billionaire Bruce Wayne.

I stopped in front of the dresser mirror and looked at the brand before pulling on an undershirt and tucking it into my pants as far as it would go. I had to be sure that no one saw it, so Bruce had gone out and gotten me bigger shirts. When I wore my jacket, no one would be able to tell the difference, so it wasn't a big deal.

When I got downstairs, Bruce was sitting down at the table and Alfred was just coming out of the kitchen with two plates of over-easy eggs with sausage links. After setting the plates down, he returned to the kitchen and brought out two glasses and a pitcher of orange juice.

"Good morning, Master Richard," Alfred said as I sat down in my usual spot at the big table.

"'Morning, Al," I replied, smiling at him.

"Any nightmares last night?" Bruce asked me.

"No," I lied. He didn't need to know; it would just make him worry even more.

Ever since the accident, Bruce had been getting a lot more protective than he used to, so I didn't want him to get any more protective of me; he was a great guy, but Daddy Bats was a weird thing to see.

Bruce nodded and took a sip of the coffee mug Alfred put next to the glass of orange juice. "I'm going to be in meetings all day, so Alfred is going to take you to the mountain after school."

"I can go myself, you know," I said.

"I would rather Alfred take you this time. Just to be safe. The Joker is still out there, and we still don't know if—"

"He figured out my identity," I finished for him. "Bruce, if he had figured it out, he would have come after us by now! It's not like the Joker to be a patient person."

"We can never be too sure, Dick."

"Fine, Alfred will take me. But what I Artemis sees? If she follows the car, she would figure out that I'm Robin."

"Artemis won't think anything of it. Alfred is going to drop you off a couple of blocks away from the mountain; that way you can walk the rest of the way and no one will suspect anything."

"Yeah, besides the people on the street who see Robin stepping out of Bruce Wayne's limousine."

"You will exit at Dick Grayson, then appear to be going into a building. Once in there, you will change and exit through a window, then make your way to the mountain."

I nodded. I didn't like this plan at all; it was risky. But Bruce seemed to think it would work, so I just finished my breakfast in silence.

School went by as usual; boring. Well, not completely boring. It was hard being the really smart kid. I was a sophomore now, but I was only 13 still and the ward of a billionaire, which meant that I was a big target for bullies.

With my knack for attracting trouble, I was the first victim of the year.

"Hey, Dick!" a boy called. His friends all snickered at the name.

"What do you want, Mikey?" I asked, barely turning to look at them.

"You know, the usual," Mikey replied. He was a tall kid with huge shoulders. He was in my class and seemed to make it very obvious that he didn't think I belonged in the class. I didn't care. I dealt with people who didn't want to around on a day-to-day basis.

Mikey stalked toward me and held out his hand, "cough it up."

"What?" I asked, playing dumb. It amused me how angry he got when I did that.

Mikey's cheeks turned a bright red, "You know what!" he said. "Money, all you've got on ya!"

I shrugged, "don't have any."

He grabbed me by the collar, "Of course you do," he sneered. "Ward of a rich playboy, you're bound to at least have twenty on you at all times."

I shrugged again, "guess I learned after last year that it was a stupid idea to do that."

"Well, we need payment," Mikey said, looking at his gang. "What about this watch?" he asked. "Looks a little old and worn, but it might be worth something."

"Don't touch it," I snapped.

"Why not?" Mikey asked, holding up my watch-wrist with his free hand.

"It's—" It was my dad's watch. My real dad's. It was in our trailer when he died, so it was untouched, but extremely worn from year. I couldn't tell Mikey that, though, cuz it would just make him want it ever more. If it had sentimental value to me, it would he his in a heartbeat. "It's a piece of crap. Beeps every hour or so and I can't get it to stop. Do you really wanna live with it?"

"Why doesn't Brucey just buy you a new one?" He questioned, seeming suspicious of my answer.

"Just because he has money, doesn't mean he goes around spending it everywhere he can," I said. It wasn't a lie. "Says it's a perfectly good watch anyway."

"Sounds like daddy doesn't care as much after all, if he can't get his own kid a decent watch!"

"He's not my dad," I snapped.

"Oh, yeah, cuz your dad is dead, isn't he?"

That did it. I broke free of his grip and punched him in the face. I didn't hit him too hard, nor did I aim it every well, because then it would show that I had skill. I didn't really think it through, either, because next thing I knew, Mikey was sending his own fist colliding with my stomach. Then he sent another to my side, right where the brand was. I let out a pained gasp, which was a bad idea, because then he started punching even more in the same spot.

"Leave him alone!" A voice called.

I looked up and there was Artemis.

_Good ol' Artemis,_ I thought. _Always doing the right thing._

"Yeah?" Mikey asked, letting me fall to the ground. "What are you gonna do about it, new kid?"

"I, uh," Artemis started, obviously unsure of what to say. She obviously wasn't about to blow her own identity, so she couldn't fight back either.

"What's going on here?" A teacher asked, walking down the hall way. I got to my feet quickly before he saw anything that had happened.

Mikey and his group disbanded faster than you could say "Aster" and the rest of the hall cleared out at the obvious disappointment that the fight had been cut off.

The teacher did a quick scan and then moved along, leaving me alone with Artemis.

"Thanks," I said, breaking the awkward silence.

"No problem," she said. "It's not like anyone else was doing anything."

"Yeah, they usually don't," I replied. It was true, though. They were all afraid to cross paths with Mikey and his gang, so they just stood to the side and watched.

"Are you hurt?" She asked, looking anxiously at my side.

"Just a couple of bruises."

"Let me see," she said, attempting to get closer. She meant well, but…

"No, it's fine, really," I said, trying to shove her away.

Artemis was insanely stubborn though, and kept getting closer. "It looks like you're bleeding," she said.

I looked down. Sure enough, right where the brand was, there was a slight trickle of blood leaking out and staining the white shirt.

"I'll just go clean it off in the bathroom," I said, still moving away until I felt myself backed against a wall.

"No, let me help," she said.

"Really, it's—" before I could finish, or even register what was happening, she lifted my button down and undershirt in one yank.

She stared in shock at the massive scar that spread across my stomach and then at the brand, which was bleeding very slightly from the sensitive skin being damaged.

"You're… but…" she looked closer, as if thinking that she was seeing wrong.

"Artemis?"

"You didn't tell me?"

"I couldn't!" I protested.

"Wait, but then that means that Bruce is… oh god…"

I stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to say, until the obvious thing finally came into my mind. "You can't tell anyone."

"But—"

"No one here, or on the team can know, understand?"

"Why don't you guys just tell them?"

I pulled my shirt out of her grip and awkwardly tucked it back in.

"It's complicated."

"Wait a minute… it makes sense now!" Artemis said, looking me in the eye.

"What does?"

"I heard the story about you. Dick Grayson, part of the Flying Graysons, a family of trapeze artists. John and Mary were murdered by mobster Tony Zucco, leaving their only son, Dick, with no family. He was taken in by Bruce Wayne and shortly after, Robin showed up. You really have been doing it since you were nine!"

"Yes, now can we please wait to discuss this until after we're out of school?"

She nodded, "we need to get the blood cleaned up, before anyone else sees it."

"I know. I have a change of clothes in my locker, incase this happened. But first, I need to call Bruce."

"Why?"

"Because, he needs to know that we have a problem. He won't be mad at you, don't worry. It'll be me…"

…To be continued…

Ok, just admit it; we all know that at some point, Artemis is going to find out that Dick is actually Robin. I mean, why put them at the same school if it wasn't going to happen? Anyway, sorry this was kind of incredibly boring and pointless… the next chapter should be much better. Don't forget to review! =D


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any characters that may appear in this story

Chapter 2

Welcome to My Life

"Tell me this again," Bruce's raging voice boomed over the speakers in the car.

"Mikey Veeger punched me—"

"Several times," Artemis finished. She was now riding with me to the mountain, by Bruce's request.

"Yes, and I started bleeding. She got worried and was trying to help, not realizing that didn't need it, and she kind of… uh, lifted my shirt?"

"And saw the scar?" Bruce questioned for the forth time.

"And the brand," Artemis corrected. "I didn't mean to, honest. I mean, Dick was the last person I ever would have suspected, and I was just trying to help."

"I know you meant well, Artemis, but Dick, what caused the fight?"

I looked down from the small screen with Bruce's face. "He wanted my money and got mad when I said I didn't have any. He tried to take my dad's watch."

"All this happened over a watch?" Bruce asked, seeming to be getting even more annoyed. "I could have gotten you a new one!"

"It's my dad's watch!" I couldn't figure out why Bruce was acting like this. He had offered to get me a new watch at the end of the summer, but understood perfectly when I had declined.

"Yes, and because of your stupidity, someone knows your identity!"

"Artemis isn't going to tell anyone! It's not like she working for Two Face or something!"

"But if she is captured and asked for information, what is going to stop her from slipping? This puts both of us at risk of being discovered."

"Bruce, she's stronger than that!"

"Ok, can you please stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Artemis asked, obviously getting annoyed. "Look, Mr. Wayne, I'm not telling anybody. I understand that you guys have your secrets, so you don't really have to worry about it."

Artemis' voice started to falter as Bruce sent her a Batglare that could send chills up Scarecrows' spine.

"I'm not blaming you, Artemis, but Dick; you're off of patrol _and_ missions for a week."

"Bruce!" I started, but then realized it wasn't worth arguing.

"I want you at the mountain after school every day cleaning and doing homework. I'm going to have meetings all this week, so Alfred will be driving you and picking you up after dinner."

"Fine," I said before turning off the screen and ending the video call.

"That was… harsh," Artemis said.

"That is what I like to call 'Daddy Bats'. Extremely protective, even more strict."

"Sorry about that," she said after a few minutes of silence. "I mean, I probably shouldn't have tried so hard to help."

"It's not your fault. Bruce has been ever more paranoid and protective since… you know."

"Because the Joker is still out there?"

I nodded, not wanting to think about it. It still seemed really stupid to be worrying about it after four months.

"I will drop you off here, Master Richard, Miss Artemis," Alfred said, pulling up to a diner.

"Thanks, Al," I said, opening the door and stepping out onto the sidewalk, Artemis following.

Alfred nodded and drove away as the door closed. Artemis and I walked into the diner and made our way to the respected bathrooms.

"We'll meet in the back," I told her, and she nodded.

Five minutes later, I found myself climbing out a small window and pulling myself onto the roof of the building. I was careful about not being seen, because I just put on my civvies of black jeans and my green sweatshirt and black shades. Aretmis met me in her usual outfit less than a minute later and we made our way back to the main road and down the street.

When we reached the mountain, the only ones missing were M'gann and Conner, which seemed to make sense, because M'gann had Bumblebee practice after school.

"Dude, what took you guys so long?" Wally asked. "I've been waiting for ever!"

"Kid Flash, you have been here for five minutes," Kaldur said from his spot on the couch.

"It's still been forever!"

I smirked at Wally's complaints. For Wally West, everything took longer than it should have, because he was used to moving so fast.

We spent the rest of the day playing video games and doing homework, until I left to meet Alfred back at the diner.

The rest of the week went by virtually the same, until Friday night, when Batman showed up.

"I have a mission for you," he said. It was 6 pm, so that meant he had been at the Watch Tower for about an hour before coming here.

He briefed the team and they all left to get suited up. No one questioned why I wasn't going with them, which was for the better.

"Don't get into any trouble," Batman said.

"Of course I won't," I replied. "Trouble gets into me."

He glared at me, but I didn't care. In my opinion, he was being unreasonable. So what if Artemis found out about my identity? It wasn't like I said "Hey Artemis, guess what! I'm Robin, but you can't tell anyone!"

"I'm going to take you home today through the Batcave. I expect this place to be cleaned up by the time I get back," Bruce said, motioning to the mess in the living room.

I nodded. It wasn't worth fighting it.

I barely registered as the computer announced Batman's departure, and the team didn't say anything when they left, but Artemis smiled sadly at me.

_Better get to work,_ I thought, moving to the stack of empty pizza boxes.

It didn't take long to get the room cleaned, so I sat down on the couch and waited for Bruce to come back. I almost fell asleep when the computer started acting up.

"_Intruder alert. Intruder alert. Intruder alert!"_ it kept on repeated. I jumped up and pulled a smoke pellet out of my pocket, ready to disappear if I had to. The handle n the front door started turning.

I calmed down slightly. The door was locked, which meant that nothing could get it. Unless, of course, they were to kick down the door, which is just what happened.

As I saw a figure walking in, I dropped the smoke pellet and ran through the smoke into the kitchen and behind the counter. There were no good hiding spots in the mountain, so I had to settle for staying where I was and hoping that I didn't run out of birdarangs before the Justice League got the intruder signal.

I poked my head up past the counter slightly and saw a figured stumbling through the smoke. The Joker stumbled a lot when he walked. I gripped a birdarang in my hand until my palm started bleeding.

_Calm down,_ I told myself. _Get traught, or get dead,_ I repeated the phrase through my mind over and over, turning around behind the counter and resting my back against it. If I could make a distraction, I could go through the ventilation system, like when the Reds had attacked, and then… but it was no good, the figure was getting closer, the smoke was clearing, and I had used my only smoke pellet. My utility belt was with my costume in the Batcave.

"Hello?" A voice called. It didn't sound like the Joker. It sounded angry, yet familiar. It also sounded like the own of the voice was in pain.

I kept my position, though. I realized that my breathing was getting loud and heavy over the stress, so I took in a deep breath and held it.

_It's not him,_ I told myself. _Probably just some punk kid who found his way in here, _I settled for that one, but then… a normal kid would have turned tail and ran at the sound of the alarm.

There was almost no smoke left, which meant that I had to think fast. It wasn't the Joker, but it obviously wasn't a stupid person. I initially thought of Roy, but he would have used the portal to get in, not the front door. And we told him how to deactivate the new system if he ever had to.

"I know someone's there," the voice said. "Come out."

All I could hear was the pounding of my heart. I didn't hear the computer announcing the arrival of someone, nor did I hear the stranger yelp as a bowstring was let loose.

"Robin?" A new voice called. I recognized this one. It was Roy. "Robin, where are you? He's taken care of."

"I'm over here," I called, and heard Roy's footsteps making their way over to the kitchen.

"What are you doing down there?" he asked, looking at me like I was crazy.

"I heard the alarm go off, so…"

"So you thought it was the Joker?" he asked, a sad look spreading across his face.

I looked down at the floor and nodded slightly.

"It's ok," he said. "It's perfectly normal."

"Who's there?" I asked him.

"I'm not sure," he helped me up and we walked over to the intruder, who was lying on the floor, unconscious.

What I saw amazed me, and Roy was obviously shocked as well. I was staring down at myself.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any characters who may appear in this story.

Chapter 3

Dead Man Walking

I stared at the person before me in shock. But then the shock turned to terror as memories of the other world came flashing into my mind. My clone, the Joker, being stabbed. It seemed like my worst nightmare was coming to life.

I stepped away slowly, trying to tear my eyes away, but finding that I couldn't. I could hear Red Arrow's voice trying to reach me, but I couldn't hear what he was saying.

I finally was able to tear my eyes away and look at him. He was calling my name with a worried expression.

I looked at him finally, "Huh?"

"Is that _him_?" he asked. I knew he meant the clone. I looked back at the figure. It looked just like me, but… it wasn't the same. His hair was spiked up, as if he used way too much hair gel. And his costume was green and red, not purple and red.

I shook my head, "The hair and costume are wrong. It's not him, but…"

"What should we do with him?"

"Keep him knocked out until Batman gets here. He'll know what to do."

Roy nodded and we carried the double off to the infirmary, where we were able to drug him. I felt bad, but it had to be done.

We went back into the main room together and Roy motioned for me to sit down at the kitchen counter as he turned off the alarm and closed the door again, locking it behind him. He came and joined me after, sitting in a stool next to mine.

"So, do you wanna tell me what you were doing here along?" He asked, finally breaking the long silence.

"Batman doesn't want me on any missions right now," I replied, looking at the countertop.

"Why not?"

"Artemis kind of, uh, found out my identity."

"So, what, this is Batman's form of grounding you?" Roy asked with a puzzled expression.

I nodded, "He's been overprotective since the Joker incident, so he's even more freaked out about somebody finding out our identities."

"He's overprotective, so he left you here on your own? Why not bring you up to the Watch Tower with him?"\

"He wanted me cleaning the mountain. I guess he never expected anyone to—"

"_Intruder alert, intruder alert, intruder alert!" _the alarm sounded again.

"I just turned this thing off!" Roy complained, walking over to the panel on the wall near the door. Before he could reset it, though, the entire wall blew open, sending his flying across the room.

"Well then, Ducky! Sorry about that… NOT!" A British accent rang out through the mountain.

I didn't hide this time. It obviously wasn't the Joker, so it made no sense to be scared of him.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a Birderang. "Who's there?" I called.

The figure looked around the room, it's head stopping on me.

"Aaah Robbie! There you are!"

The smoke and debris cleared and I had a clear view of the figure. He was old with long legs, with his back hunched over. He had grey hair and glasses that rested on the tip of his nose.

"Who are you supposed to be?"

He stared at me like I was insane. Which, I can tell you for a fact, that I'm not.

He made his way to me, moving much faster than I had anticipated. I tried to back away, but was cornered. He slapped me on the shoulder several times while saying "Jolly, ol' Robbie! Did that flash kill all o' your memories? Maybe a nice cup o' tea and some biscuits 'ill make ya feel betta'!"

"What are you talking about? What flash?"

"What flash? Blimey Robbie, you'd think you'd never been to that ol' Jump City!"

I saw behind the man's back to the area where Red Arrow was. I saw the rubble moving, and there was Roy, knocking an arrow and getting ready to shoot. He nodded his head to the air vent and mouthed "I'll be right behind you."

I nodded slightly and got ready to run. The arrow was off and the dude didn't even know what hit him as he was wrapped in a net.

"Go!" Roy shouted as he started running to the grate.

I pulled it down and held it as he jumped up. I followed after him, pulling the grate up under me and locking it back into place. This seemed like major déjà vu with Artemis.

"Who was that guy?" Roy asked as he crawled along, leading the way.

"Let me see," I said, sliding up one of my sleeves to reveal a wrist band with several straps. I removed the straps and a holographic computer came out.

"Where do you get these things?" Roy asked.

"I wish I knew."

I started typing up until I got the security footage from the outside of the mountain. I saw my double coming to the door and kicking it in. A few minutes later, the British nut job came up and blew the door open with his cane.

"Uh oh," I said, but before I got to warn Roy about the cane, the space between us was sliced in half.

"What was that?" Roy asked.

"His cane. It had some kind of laser powers in it."

"It's much more than that, you lil snots!" The accent echoed through the vents.

"Keep going," I said, crawling behind Roy until we finally reached a spot a little ways down.

"Cover me," I said, pulling out the videos again, pausing it when it showed the man. "Enhance the picture and scan," I voiced, while pushing the holographic buttons.

"Got anything?"

"Yeah. His name is Mad Mod, he's from England and was obsessed with restoring it here in America."

"What do you mean 'was'?"

"It says here that he died two years ago, fighting the Justice League. While in the middle of a battle in Star City, he slipped and fell off of a bridge. They found the body and announced that he was dead."

"Come out, Robbie! You and your new friend can't hide forever!"

"If he's dead, then how is he here? And why does he think he knows you?"

I thought for a minute, "How is there another me here that isn't trying to kill me?" I asked. "He must think that I'm the other Robin!"

"He must not be very bright then," Roy remarked. "You guys look nothing alike, besides the tights and R on your chest. You wear different colors!"

"None of this makes sense. We need to get to the Watch Tower and alert the Justice—" Before I could finish the sentence, the computer rang out the arrival of Batman.

"He was probably tipped off by the alarm," Roy said.

"Batman?" Mad Mod questioned from below them. "Aren't you supposed to be off in Gotham?"

"Not when you're threatening my partner," I could hear Bruce's overprotective voice echo up to us. "Besides, I thought you were dead."

"Dead?" Mad Mod's voice came out shrilly. "No, no, I'm much too young to die, Jolly Ol' Batty!"

"I'm anything buy jolly," Batman corrected. "I don't like seeing dead men walking."

I found a hole in the vent, so I held my eye up to it and saw Mad Mod looking panicked as he tried to find a way out. Before I knew what was happening, his cane was blasting a laser right at me. I had no time to react as the metal gave out beneath me and I began to fall to the ground. Roy caught me before that happened, but it didn't make much difference. If I had been as tall as Wally, I probably would have been standing on my feet, but I was at least a foot shoulder, so I was stuck dangling.

Batman glared daggers at me and I knew that he was beyond mad now. So I did what most people in my situation did. I lifted my hand that Roy wasn't hanging onto and waved slightly "Hey there, Bats!" I said.

"Robin…" Batman warned.

"Ha!" I knew you were Robin! You didn't have to lie, Robbie! But what did you do to your hair?"

"Get out of here, Mod," Batman warned.

"Well, Batty, that's the problem, because I have no guarantee that you won't just throw one o' those Baterangs at me when my back is turned, so, you leave me no choice."

Before I knew what was happening, my leg was being tugged on and Roy lost his grip. I found myself lying on the floor or a split second before I was lifted by Mad Mod, who held his cane to my neck with his thumb ready to blast my head off.

"So, I walk out of here, right now, or Robbie 'ere gets it!"

Batman looked just about pissed now. Full on, pissed off. He dropped the Baterang he was holding and put his arms up.

I had no choice but to move along with Mad Mod. I felt gross being so close to him; he smelled of old man and nursing home, which was a really nasty smell.

I was paying attention to my footing, so I didn't notice the arrow that flew toward me, hitting the cane and knocking it out of Mad Mod's hand. Mod jumped back and I took it as my chance to get him, so I turned and let my fist collide with his face. Screw the fact that he was old; he just held a laser cane to my face. He deserved it.

I turned around to see Roy dropping down from the vent and Bruce glaring at me still. Yep, I was in big trouble with Daddy Bats.

…To be Continued…


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey guys! I just want to say thank you for all of the amazing reviews! Also, don't expect updates to always be this frequent. At this point, I have the computer mostly to myself, so I am able to do more. I may be getting a tablet, though, that has Microsoft Word on it, so I can be writing on that once I get it, but this daily update is just now when I have the time.

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any characters that may appear in this story. Though I love this series with a passion!

Chapter 4

Don't Contradict Me!

To say that Bruce was angry was a major understatement. He looked like he was about to punch a hole through the wall. But honestly, it wasn't my fault that there were two intruders at the mountain!

"I leave you alone for an hour and you nearly got yourself killed!" Bruce shouted after we tied up Mad Mod and left him on the couch.

"It wasn't my fault!" I defended.

Roy had left after he determined that we could hold the fort without him. I figured it was probably because he could sense the wrath of Daddy Bats was coming on, and didn't want to make it worse than it already was.

"Why didn't you have your utility belt with you? You could have easily taken on Mad Mod with it!"

"I left it in my backpack."

"And what possessed you to do that?"

"What does it matter to you?"

"That could have been the Joker prancing in those doors!"

"So? I can take care of myself!"

"Because you proved that so well when you got yourself stabbed four months ago," Bruce remarked.

"While saving your life!"

"What about being kidnapped by Joker in the first place?"

"They ambushed us, Bruce! There was no way to physically get away from them. You saw how many men they had with them."

I made to leave the room, but Bruce grabbed my arm before I could. "Let go," I ordered.

"Does it ever occur to you why I'm so protective?" he asked. "Why I won't let anyone know our identities, or let you be alone for more than an hour at a time?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Dick, I worry about you," he said, pulling me toward him as I tried to break free once more. "I… I can't lose you again."

I stared at him. I wasn't expecting anything like that.

"I thought you didn't trust me."

"I don't," Bruce admitted. "I want to, but I can't, not to be on your own and get through a battle without me. I thought that putting you on the team would help me to trust you; it would show me how responsible you had gotten, but after the Joker took you. I thought I'd never see you again."

"And all you could think of was how it was my fault, I got it. How, had I been better, Wally, Kaldur and I would never have been taken."

"No, Dick," he said, grabbing each of my arms now and leaning down till he was at my height, which was incredibly embarrassing. "I blamed myself for thinking you could handle the Joker. Yes, I was there, but I expected you to be prepared for anything, and it was wrong for me to do that. You're still a kid, Dick. You shouldn't have to be worrying about getting through every day without a psycho knocking on your front door coming to kidnap you!

Dick, I love having you by my side, but some days I go so far as to consider having you put away the cape and just live as a normal teenager. Some mornings, I wake up and can't help but wonder if taking you in was the right thing to do. When I see how you get during a fight, I know I did the right thing.

But, I'm asking you as a father, not a partner; do you want to keep being Robin?"

"Of course I do," I said, shocked that he would actually ask.

He nodded, "I just need you to promise me that you won't put yourself in danger so often. Stay away from danger as much as possible, please. I can't lose you again."

Then I realized why Bruce had been acting to harsh. It all made sense, so after he told me all this, I decided he needed to know how I felt about it all.

I pulled my arms from his strong grip and wrapped them around him, "I know you're worried. Up until now, I thought you were… ashamed."

He grabbed my arms again and looked me in the eye, "why would I be ashamed of you?"

"I thought I wasn't good enough. I couldn't stop the Joker from getting me… where you could have had him on the ground in a heartbeat."

"Do you remember one of the first things you said to me after we got you guys out of there?" Bruce asked, and I shook my head. Those few days after I woke up from the coma were all a blur of pain and sleep, so I honestly didn't remember any of it. "You looked at that J on your side and asked me if I was ashamed. And I told you no, because I could never be ashamed of you, because it wasn't your fault."

We sat down on the floor together in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before I remembered the other intruder, "I need to tell you something," I said, standing up and heading toward the infirmary. "Now, I have no idea who he is, but he showed up just before Mad Mod did."

Batman stared at the Robin in the bed for a long time before finally asking "Is he drugged?"

I nodded, "Roy and I decided it would be best, until you got here. Mad Mod seemed to think I was him, though. He seemed to know him pretty well."

"But we don't know who's side he's on?"

"No," I replied.

"We'll wake him up and get some answers."

Bruce removed the IV with the drugs, and within a half an hour, Robin II was walking up.

"Where am—" He started to say, but then jumped back when he saw Batman. "What are you doing here? I told you to leave me alone!"

"We want answers," Bruce said, staying calm.

"We?" He looked over and saw me standing next the Batman. "Speedy? Why are you dressed like me?"

"He's not Speedy," Batman said. "There is no Speedy, just Red Arrow. This is Robin."

"No," Robin said, getting off of the bed, "You're not Robin, because I'm Robin. There can't be more than one Robin."

"What's your name, kid?"

"Bruce, you should know my name by now," Robin said, looking at Bruce sternly. "Or are you just pretending to now know it in order to make a point about being mad at me?"

"You obviously know my name, so what is yours?" Bruce demanded, getting annoyed.

"Dick," he replied. "There, happy? Now, what's Boy Double's name?"

Batman nodded his approval at me, "Dick," I replied.

"But then… wait, where is he?" Robin asked, looking around the room anxiously.

"Where is who?" Bruce asked.

"Mad Mod," Robin replied. "We were in the middle of a battle, and then there was a flash of light downtown and—where am I?"

"Happy Harbor," I replied.

"Happy what?" Robin asked, looking at me like I was crazy. "I was in Jump City this morning."

"Jump City?" Batman gave Robin a weird look.

"Bruce," I said, pulling on his cape and motioning him out of the room. "Mad Mod died, right?" Bruce nodded. "Wally, Kaldur and I were sent into a different world through a painting."

"What does this have to do with anything?"

"What if there are more of these worlds out there? I mean, not exactly like that one, but there could be others!"

"Other worlds with other versions of us," Bruce finished, catching onto the idea.

"Mad Mod said that there was a flash of light, and then they were here. What if there are different portals, each one is different. The one to the world we were in was a painting, but what if this one is some kind of… machine, or something?"

"Something that causes light," Bruce said, considering it. "A car, a street light, a lamp…"

"It would be something that there's only one of in each world. Some kind of rare, antique lamp or something, maybe."

"Something like the Bat Signal," Bruce added. "There's gotta be one in the other world."

"But the Bat Signal is in Gotham. This would need to be in Jump City and in Happy Harbor."

"Which means that we need find out what this could be and send this other Robin back through to his own world."

"What were you doing before you showed up here?" I asked, walking into the room.

"I was in a battle with the Brotherhood of Evil," Robin said. "I was fighting five of them."

"Who was it besides Mad Mod?" Bruce asked.

"You know about Mad Mod?"

"Yeah, he's uh, kind of tied up on our couch right now," I said, pointing into the main room.

"There was Control Freak, Blackfire, Cinderblock, and Psimon."

"Psimon?" I asked. "We just defeated him in Bialya last year."

"Wait here," Batman said, motioning for me to follow him. "Tell me what you can get on Psimon."

I rolled up my sleeve and began typing on my holographic computer. "From what I'm getting from the League's database, he thought there were other worlds, so he tried contacting them. He was able to contact a demon named Trigon, who granted him his powers." I looked up at Bruce. "He could have made the portals."

Bruce nodded, "I think we need to take a trip to Belle Reve."

"Let's go then."

"But," he added, "Someone needs to stay here and keep an eye on things. Without Red Tornado here, and the rest of the team on a mission, you're the only one left. Can I trust you?"

Bruce probably thought that I was an idiot with how big my smile must have been, "Of course!"

He nodded, "I'll be back in a little bit, then."

…To the Continued…


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Yet again, I do not own these characters! Honestly, I don't, so why have I said this 5 times now? JUST ON THIS STORY!

Chapter 5

This Friday Night

I watched Bruce leave and moved Mad Mod into a holding room. It seemed to make sense, so he wasn't in my way. I then walked back into the infirmary and saw Robin sitting on one of the beds. Just kind of sitting, not doing anything, but seeming perfectly content, like Superboy watching the fuzz on the TV screen.

Also, why is it called a TV? Really, it makes no sense! Why not just call it a Tele or a Vision? But TV? Really? Take the first and the fifth letter and add it together? Whoever wrote the English language really had some problems.

"So," I said, making my presence known. "What do you like to do for fun?"

"Nothing," he said simply, as if everyone just sat around and did nothing.

"Wanna play some video games?"

"No."

"Watch a movie? KF just got this really awesome new one that he left here, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if—"

"No."

"Wanna go hack some back government facility and see how fast we can get out before they catch us?"

"No."

That did it. This guy was not me, unless— "Dude, what made you such a buzz kill?"

"Doesn't matter."

I face palmed. This guy was driving me crazy. I bet Batman was leaning back in the Batwing right about now, laughing that I took the bait and got stuck with this guy.

I wanted the team to get back. Superboy did more than this dude!

"Do you want to do _anything_?"

"No."

"There was a girl, wasn't there?"

"What do you mean?"

"Back in Jump City; you had a girlfriend, didn't you?"

He paused, and then finally said "Kind of."

"What was her name?"

"Starfire," he replied, looking out the window on the far wall.

"Is she pretty?"

He nodded, "the most beautiful girl I ever saw."

"So, you wanna keep day dreaming, or do you wanna do something to keep busy until Batman gets back?"

"Can I ask you something?"

I looked at him, puzzled. "Sure."

"Why are you still with him?"

"Bruce?"

He nodded yet again, "I mean, he's a jerk."

"Yeah he is, but he has his reasons."

"Like what?"

"He's worried. I mean, he thinks of me as a son, so he just gets really stressed out when I go out on missions and stuff like that. He means well, but he just doesn't know how to show it."

"Then your Batman is a whole lot better than mine was."

"What happened between you two anyway?"

He shrugged, "I don't wanna talk about it. It's a long story."

"And we've got a while before my team or Bruce comes back."

"Do you have any kind of training room?"

I drove me crazy that he kept changing the topic, but I wasn't gonna push him. "Yeah, you wanna spar?"

"Why not," he said with a smirk.

I led him to the training room and he stared at it as if he were in heaven.

"I'll register you into the computer as Robin II, just so there isn't any confusion," I said, making my way to the computer in the wall and entering the names in. I quickly made my way to the changing room and changed to my training uniform; blue and white top with black pants and a copy of my mask.

We met at the middle of the floor and took our stances, shooting off at the same time when the computer voiced "Begin."

_Dodge, kick, duck, flip, punch,_ the motions ran through my mind just before I did each one. Neither one of us were able to land a hit. I don't know how long it went on for, but soon enough the computer was announcing the arrival of the team. I barely registered them as they stood, dumbfounded as I fought against myself.

We both paused at the same time, panting as sweat streamed down our faces.

"Tie?" I asked.

"Tie," Robin agreed, wiping sweat from his brow.

"Ok, does somebody wanna tell me what is going on now?" Wally questioned, making himself known to us both.

"Like why there are two of you," Artemis said.

"Yeah, because dude, last time you had a clone, it tried to kill us!"

Robin looked at me questioningly.

"It's a long story," I said to him, before turning back to Wally and the rest of the team. "Guys, this is Robin. This is gonna sound crazy, but—"

It took about 15 minutes to explain what happened to the team. Or at least it should have, had Wally not been continuously interrupting to ask questions.

"So that world we were sent to," Kaldur started, and I could see the gears moving in his mind. "There are others just like it?"

"Well, not _just_ like it, just… similar."

"Are any of us in that world?" M'gann asked.

"Well, we have Kid Flash. And our Aqualad is a bit different. His real name is Garth and he has black hair."

"We too have Garth in our world," Kaldur said, seeming incredibly interested. "He is a dear friend of mine, but he chose not to train under Aquaman."

Robin nodded as if he didn't really care about the details.

"I will go make cookies!" M'gann offered, breaking the awkward silence. Superboy left without saying a word, probably to go watch the fuzz on the television.

"So, Robin Double, am I dating a really hot girl in your world?" Wally asked, speeding over to us as soon as Me'gann was gone. "I mean, she would have redish brownish hair, green skin and a really great personality."

"Well, you are with a girl, but not an alien. Try more a witch who brings bad luck with pink hair, grayish skin and a pretty good personality."

Wally looked like his heart had just been ripped in half and dropped into a box of white chocolate.

"But Wally, at least you get a girl somewhere," I said, placing a hand on the speedster's shoulder.

"But not M'gann!"

"M'gann isn't even in my world," Robin said. "At least, I've never seen her."

"Oh, ok then," Wally said, instantly cheering up before leaving.

"Is your Wally anything like that?" I asked.

He nodded, "Yep."

I changed back into my civvies and we went to join the rest of the team in the main room. Wally had turned on Lord of the Rings, so we sat down with the team to watch it.

By the time it finished, Batman hadn't come back yet and it was around 10 pm, so we headed off to bed. Robin stayed in one of the spare rooms, and I made sure to put some food into the holding cell that Mad Mod was in. I untied him when I put him in, because there was no danger in it.

At 5 am, the alarm was going off yet again. It was really driving me crazy now, so I grabbed my utility belt from my backpack which I had put beside my bed, and heading into the main room, where the rest of the team stood, waiting for the door to be opened.

Robin ran out and joined us, grabbing a metal rod from his belt and tracting it to a yard long stick, twirling it in between his fingers several times.

"Do you know who it is?" Robin asked.

"I'm finding out now," I said, using my holographic computer to pull up the security footage from outside. "It's a girl."

Robin looked over my shoulder at the screen, "Blackfire," he said.

"What are her—" before I could finish the sentence, the wall of the mountain was destroyed in an explosion of purple.

"She's an alien," Robin replied when the girl flew into the room, eyes and hands glowing purple.

She glanced around the room and her eyes settled on Robin and I. "Two of you?" She bellowed. "Well, I guess I'll just have to destroy you both."

Before she could move, Aqualad had his water bearers forming the shapes of whips and flinging them at her, causing her to turn her attention toward him.

"Titans, GO!" Robin yelled.

Blackfire stopped dead and stared at him, along with the rest of us.

"Uh, dude, here we just fight…" Wally said awkwardly.

"Oh," Robin said.

While we were distracted, Blackfire shot toward Robin and I, shooting purple bolts from her hands. Robin began spinning his staff again, deflecting all of the bolts. I took this as my chance and grabbed an exploding birderang from my belt and launching it at Blackfire, knocking her out of the air.

"I have got to get me one of those!' We both said to each other in unison.

"Guys, we still have an alien girl trying to kill us," Artemis said, knocking an arrow as Blackfire got back to her feet.

"You will not defeat me!' Blackfire screamed. She seemed to have some anger management issues, but I decided not to dwell on that until after the battle.

"Robin," Aqualad called, catching mine and Robin's attention. "Try to lead her outside toward the water. My powers will be greater there and we will not destroy the mountain."

We both nodded.

"Hey, ugly alien face!" I called, waving my hands at Blackfire. "Come and get us!"

Robin started running through the hole that was put in the mountain, so I followed suit, pulling out a smoke pellet and dropping it at the opening before running out.

The two of us reached the beach and saw the rest of the team come running up to us.

"Ok, so what now?" Artemis asked.

"Try and hit her with one of your net arrows," Aqualad instructed. "While she is evading that, I can hit her with my waterbearers, though I may need a bit more of a distraction."

"I've got you covered," I said, disappearing with a laugh and watching their expressions. I loved doing that to them.

I scaled part of the mountain, climbing up just above the opening. The smoke was starting to clear now, so she would be coming out any time. I pulled out several explosives and waited. As soon as she came flying out and got to my height, I threw them, screaming "Artemis, now!"

While Blackfire was busy trying to avoid the explosives, Artemis fired the arrow, which reached the alien as she was trying to regain her balance. "You little brat!" she screamed before the arrow narrowly missed her, drawing her attention to the rest of the team.

"Hey, Purple Lady, you forgotten about me?" I asked, sounding as innocent as possible.

When she turned to look back at me, she was sent flying to the ground in a barrage of water. It didn't drown her, just enough to knock her out.

I jumped down from my spot on the mountain wall, flipping several times for show, and landed on my feet next to her.

"That went well," I remarked as the rest of the team joined me.

"Yeah, now all we need is a new cave," Wally said, pointing to the massive hole in the wall. "And maybe a new security system that shoots people if they get to close, instead of just telling us…"

"But we'll work with what the Justice League gives us," Artemis said. Then the bickering broke out.

Robin looked like he was going to go crazy just being around Wally and Artemis for too long.

"Welcome to life with the Young Justice League," I said smiling, and then went inside to go to back to bed, before facing the wrath of Batman.

…To be Continued…

**A/N: Soo uh, wanna hear a fun fact about Walking with Insanity? I came up with the idea for it while babysitting. I was thinking of doing a Young Justice story involving the Joker and Cadmus, but I couldn't decide what to do until I went to babysit one day, and one of the little girls coloured in the moon on a picture black, and then BAM! Attack of the plot bunnies!**


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Soo this chapter is going to be focusing a lot on the relationship between Wally and Dick, so just be warned. It may be kind of sad. Also, I'm thinking that Slade will make his presence known in the next chapter or so. ~LOG

Disclaimer: Ok, this is seriously getting stupid now! I don't own Young Justice! Or any characters! END OF STORY!

Chapter 6

Living at the Mercy of the Pain and the Fear

_Pain, laughter, loneliness, cold, heat, burning, funny, hopeless, distraught, pain, laughter, loathing, disaster, overwhelmed, funny, cold, chills…_

A few hours after the battle with Blackfire, I woke up to Wally, slapping me across the face, mumbling something in a low voice.

"What are you doing?" I asked, sitting up. I was shaking, sweating, and out of breath.

"Waking you up before you wake up the whole mountain."

"What are you talking about?"

"Dude, you were screaming."

I stared at him. It wouldn't have been the first time I screamed in my sleep. It had happened several times after my parents' death, and several more times after the Joker incident. "What about?"

"You were asking for it to stop. Said it wasn't funny anymore. Dude, Rob, are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine. Just kind of stressed out right now."

"About what?"

"Well, maybe the fact that there is a double me from another world sleeping right across the hall from me, Batman just went off to Belle Rev to find a dude who can get into people's minds, and Artemis found out my identity."

Ok, so maybe I wasn't supposed to tell anyone that last bit, but it just kind of slipped. Besides, Wally knew my secret. He was the only one that Bats allowed me to tell.

"She what?"

"She goes to my school, Wally; it was bound to happen sooner or later."

"Wait, so she knows who you are, so does that mean that she know that I know who you are? And if so, is she supposed to know now that I know that she knows that I know that I know who you are, or is that still in the underground that I know who you are?"

"Wally, you're making no sense," I said. "Artemis has no idea that you know, and it's going to stay that way. Nobody can know that you guys know, because then Bats would just get even more pissed at me."

"_Rocognized, Batman, 02,"_ the voice of the computer rang out.

"Now _that_ would wake up the rest of the team," I said, jumping up and putting on my shades before going into the main room where Batman was.

"How'd it go last night?" Bruce asked.

"It was…" I trailed off slightly, looking at the side of the cave with the massive hole in it. "Well, I think we need a new security system.

"One with guns that can defend itself," Wally said, speeding into the room after me. "Like the one in the Batcave!"

"I'll talk to the League," Bruce said.

"Did you get anything from Psimon?" I asked, finding myself hopping from foot-to-foot in excitement.

Bruce nodded, "he told me everything he knew about the other worlds. He admitted to creating the portals to each one, as well."

"It sounds like it was pretty simple," Wally remarked.

"Not at all," Bruce replied. "It took a couple hours of persuasion before he finally said anything."

"So did he say what brought Robin II here?" I asked.

"_And_ his gang of not-so-merry men," Wally added.

"Se said that he created three portals; the painting, a computer, and a wall."

"A Wall?" Wally asked.

"Like a wall with a mural on it," I said. "Each one must have an image of the world that it teleports too. Like the painting; it was a painting of the other world, and the one that led out of it was a painting of our world."

"Exactly. The one into the other Robin's world must be the computer. It would have a flash when turned on, which would explain the light that he and Mad Mod saw."

"And Blackfire," I added.

"Blackfire?"

"One of the villains that Robin had been fighting when he got teleported here; she kind of is the one who destroyed our wall last night," I said.

"Where is she?" Bruce asked.

"Drugged," Wally said. "It's impossible to tie her up, cuz she kind of spits laser from her eyes," He stuck his index fingers to his eyes and made a motion of lasers coming out of them.

Bruce nodded, "She'll stay that way for now, until we can get them back. Anyway, what we're looking for would be a giant computer screen. It produced a flash of light that was able to teleport several people at once, so we need to find something that can do that."

"We can ask Robin if there was anything like that around where he was fighting," I suggested.

"Do that, and contact me if you find anything out. I'm going to talk to the League about this. Be home for dinner."

"Yep," I said, answering both requests.

After Batman left, Wally looked at me, "So, you wanna tell me what that dream was about?"

I shook my head, "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Dude, you've been covering this up for four months now. Does Bats know about it?"

"No, and he doesn't need to. It's just a nightmare."

"Yeah, _just_ a nightmare—dude, you were screaming about something!"

"Wally, why won't you just let it go?"

"Because, I'm worried about you!"

I stared at him, having major déjà vu from the day before flooding into my mind. Bruce telling me that he was worried, why he was being such a jerk the past couple of months.

"When will you guys start treating me like an adult?" I asked. I know it was stupid playing the "I'm the youngest on the team, why do you treat me differently" card, but at this point, it was true. They were treating me like I was going to break at any moment. I mean, Superboy still refused to fight me during training!

"When you start acting like one," Wally said. He looked pissed. "Dick, we're not just a team here, we're a family. Bruce is your family! When you have a problem, family is there to help. Keeping it in doesn't help anything."

"Yeah, because you actually have a family." I couldn't believe I had said that. I heard movement in the hallway and turned to see Artemis standing next to the wall.

"Don't pull the family card, Rob. Your birth parents may be dead, but you have Bruce, Al, and us. You have me, dude."

Wally obviously hadn't seen Artemis, or was just so mad that he didn't think to play dumb around her. It was hard to tell what everyone was thinking. Everything was happening so fast, my mind felt like it wasn't even my own anymore. It was like some kind of monster had been living inside of me for the past 4 years and now it was trying to break way out and take over.

"You don't understand, Wally," I snapped. "Bruce isn't replacing my father. No one is replacing them, why won't you just get it through your thick head?"

"Dude, calm down," Wally said, taking a step back, the shock of what I said obvious on his face.

I saw Artemis looking just as surprised. What as wrong with me? I was yelling at my best friend when he was just trying to help. But then… there was that little voice in the back of my mind telling me that he was the enemy, reminding me that the last time someone tried to help, it got me in trouble. But that was my own fault, not Wally's, not Artemis', so why was I yelling now?

I looked at Wally. He looked terrified now. I must have looked insane, standing there, battling with myself about what was right and wrong, who was good and who was bad. I mean, here I was, fighting with my best friend when there were still three more villains out there, wreaking havoc.

"Wally, I'm sorry, I—"

"I understand," Wally said with a tint of attitude. "You wanna be left alone. That's cool. I'll just be in my room if you actually _want_ to talk."

Before I could say anything, he had sped off down the hall.

I stood there, frozen to my spot, "Artemis?" I asked. I didn't want to be alone. Over the past few months, I had hated being alone, because it reminded me of the week I spent, the only company I had was the Joker and his creepy scientists.

"Yeah?" she asked, her voice shaking a little. She sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

"I didn't mean it," I finished. "Any of it, honest; I don't know what came over me, but."

She came over to me and before I knew what was happening, her arms were around me. "It's fine. You just need time to really figure things out. But until then, just don't forget that we're here for you, whenever you need us."

I nodded. I finally figured out why they still treated me like a kid; because they weren't sure how to treat me now. I wasn't mad at Superboy for not wanting to fight me; he was just as afraid as I was right now. M'gann honestly didn't know what to do, while Wally thought he was doing the right thing by forcing it. Artemis and Kaldur, though, were different. They knew how to handle this.

We ended up just standing there for a few minutes. It was actually really comfortable, just being able to hug someone like that. Not in a romantic way, but in a comforting kind of manner. Looking back, I just wish we could have stayed like that forever.

…To be Continued…

**A/N: Ok, so maybe not so much Dick and Wally bonding as wanting to kill each other… but, it just seemed to fit, so I did it. And no, this is not a RobxArtie pairing. They're just friends **


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Ok, I'm sorry people, but TT!Robin has to go… I hate him, honestly. I used to love him, but after watching YJ, I realized how boring TT!Robin was, so I really just can't do this anymore. Soooooo don't be mad at me for anything that may (or may not) happen to him…..

***claimer: Just because, in honor of Robin, I didn't want to put DIS at the beginning ;) But seriously, I. DO. NOT. OWN. ANYTHING! Are you people stupid or something?

Chapter 7

I'm Going Home

Artemis and I finally broke apart when we heard a door open. We didn't want anyone getting the wrong idea about what we were doing.

I jumped up and grabbed a box of Lucky Charms from on top of the fridge. I poured a bowl for Artemis, then one for myself and replaced it, using the same tactic. I then got the milk from the fridge, as a normal person would, and set it on the counter between us.

After pouring the milk into my bowl, I took a bite. Lucky Charms was always my favorite, even though Bruce claimed it was "Unhealthy and full of sugar." But then again, I guess most adults look at it that way.

Robin II came out as I was finishing. His hair was as flat as mine and looked much tidier than it did when it was gelled up.

"'Morning," I said as he entered the kitchen. "Help yourself to anything you can find. Just be careful about the cookies on the cabinet; they're about three months old and have egg shells in them."

He finally settled on Coco Puffs and pulled them down with ease and poured himself a bowl, sitting down in a stool next to me. I passed him the milk and he gladly accepted it.

I got up and went into my room to change. It seemed rude to question somebody while they were eating, so I hopped in the shower and then threw on my civvies.

When I went back into the kitchen, Robin II was still sitting there, drinking the last of the milk from the bottom of the bowl. And the Coco Puffs box was empty.

"So, Rob, do you remember anything that was going on just before you got here, aside from the battle? You said you were downtown, was there some kind of event?"

"Yeah, there was a concert being set up. They had this huge screen on the stage that was advertising the bands name."

"Did that screen show anything else just before the flash?"

He nodded, "It showed a mountain, for some weird reason. Actually, I think it was this mountain."

"Great, thanks," I said before getting up and power walking to the giant computer screen on the wall. I dialed in for Batman's communicator and got an answer in about 10 seconds.

"What'd you find?" Bruce asked.

"There was a concert being set up; they had a massive screen on the stage that was advertising the band's name until the last minute, when it changed to Mount Justice."

"There's a concert being set up at the beach right now," Bruce said. It's at the other end, away from the mountain. You guys get over there and see if it's the portal."

I nodded, "I'll let you know if it's the one."

I went and grabbed my utility belt off of my bed, then got Artemis, Kaldur, M'gann and Superboy. I wasn't sure if Wally was still speaking to me or not, so Artemis went and got him.

She came back alone and shook her head, "He said that he's gonna stay and watch the mountain, in case any more villains attack."

We both knew that it wasn't just that, but we didn't dwell on it.

"Batman said it was at the other end of the beach," I said, leading the way.

After walking for about ten minutes, we reached the area. It was pretty obvious that we were in the right place, because there was a long metal stage set up, with cords running off of it. There were men on ladders setting up lights on the corners and some setting them up on the bottom. There were spots where flames would spurt out during some numbers.

Behind all of the men, leaning against several metal polls, was a massive screen.

"This is where I woke up," Robin II said, examining the area. "It makes sense now. The screen was here yesterday afternoon, which was when I got warped here."

"But there are also three more enemies out there that we haven't seen yet," M'gann said. "Would it be smart to wait until they turn up before sending anyone through?"

"She's right," Robin II said. "We still have to find Cinderblock, Control Freak, and Psimon before I can go back."

"I think I found Cinderblock," Conner said, pointing back towards the mountain, where a giant stone creature was running down the beach towards us.

"Superboy, can you handle him?" Kaldur asked.

Conner looked at the massive creature a smirked, "Of course."

As Cinderblock got closer, Superboy began to run at him, before jumping at the last minute and getting over the giant's head. When he was right above Cinderblock, Supes shoved his hand down onto his head and started for his landing, dragging Cinderblock down with him.

The men working on the light had run as soon as they saw the monster running toward them, but they all gathered back around when they saw Superboy smash Cinderblock into the sand and they all clapped and cheered.

By the look on Conner's face, he was actually enjoying himself for once. I glanced over and saw M'gann blushing as Conner smiled at her.

I couldn't help but run to Superboy and give him a high five and a pat on the back. After trying so hard to impress Superman, it seemed unfair that in his big moment, Superman wasn't even there to see it.

But heroes have a way of hiding themselves in certain moments. Whether it's to see how we do, or just because they don't want to be seen is beyond me, but when the Man of Steel himself came floating down out of the clouds actually smiling at his clone, I knew things would be better.

The men had all gone back to their jobs when Superman had decided to make himself known, and the first thing he was surprised all of us; we walked right up to Superboy, placed a hand on his shoulder and told him "Good job."

This blew my mind all the way to Pluto. I never thought I would live to see the day when Superman praised his clone. The look on Superboy's face was priceless.

Thinking back to it now, it actually seems like upon seeing Superboy doing good, it opened Clark's eyes to the truth that he may have been created by Lex Luthor's DNA, he wasn't like Lex. It really was a great moment to see.

"Batman filled me in on what was going on," Superman said. "We'll send this one through the portal now, before he gets away."

The workers gladly moved out of the way for us and didn't ask any questions, so with the help of Superboy, Superman sent Cinderblock through the portal, back to Jump City where he belonged.

"I'll let Batman know that Cinderblock is taken care of, can you guys—" Superman was cut off by the faint sound of the alarm in the mountain.

"I think we found Control Freak," Artemis said.

"We need to—" Kaldur started, but I couldn't wait for a plan. I ran as fast as I could back to the mountain. "Robin, wait!"

"I can't," I replied, still running. "KF is in there!"

I kept running, tripping over the lumpy sand. I heard Superman saying something along the lines of "I'll get him," in the distance. There was nowhere to disappear to here. It was wise open, with no shadows to fade into. But I couldn't stop. Wally needed me.

I could here Superman coming up behind me, in one big jump. Before I could get any farther, he was standing in front of me.

"Get out of my way," I said, trying to weave my way around him.

"Robin, we need to think this through."

"I have," I replied, spotting my escape route. "And my best friend is in there with a villain, by himself."

I didn't give Superman a chance to say anything else; I dove under his legs, kicking one of my legs out in a process and causing Superman to fall over. I slide a little ways and then shot back up to my feet, continuing the run to the mountain. I let out one of my signature laughs as I disappeared into the distance.

When I reached the mountain, there was yet a new hole in the side of it. I ran in through the hole and grabbed an exploding birderang and held it ready.

I stealthfully made my way down one hall, keeping close to the wall and peering around the corner when I reached the end. When I reached the end, I was amazed at what I saw; Wally was hanging from the ceiling, wrapped in wires with duct tape over his mouth.

I ran over to him and ripped the tape off of his mouth.

"It's a trap," Wally said.

I turned around just in time to see a fist collide with my face.

When I opened my eyes, I was hanging next to Wally, though I was upside down. There was duct tape over my mouth and my utility belt was gone. I saw it on the coffee table in front of the couch.

"Well, if it isn't the Boy Wonder," Control Freak said, pacing around us. "And his friend," he added, as if as an after thought. "You've gotten sloppy, Bird Boy."

I didn't know why he was talking to me as if I would answer him… he taped my mouth shut. I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw a shadow moving across the floor. _M'gann, can you hear me?_ I thought.

_Robin, what happened?_ M'gann's voice replied in my head.

_It was a trap; he snuck up on me. It seems he thinks I'm Robin II._

I saw the form of Robin II slithering across the room to where M'gann had gone.

_Don't worry; we have a plan._

_Glad you do, because I'm fresh out of them._

I heard M'gann giggle a little at the joke. _If you get wet, I'm sorry._

_Aaah it'll be—_The thought was cut off as I saw a wave flowing to Control Freak. Or rather, at the controller in his hand.

I knew right away what the plan was, so I kept my eyes fixed on Control Freak, so he wouldn't be suspicious. I threw a Batglare in there, too, just for show.

"Y'know, Robin, I had expected more from you. At least some kind of epic battle; this was just too—"

Before the sentence was finished, the wave crashed into him, dousing the controller in water and causing it to short circuit.

"What?" Control Freak screamed, turning just in time to be met with a net-arrow, knocking him to the floor.

"Artemis, cut the wires," Aqualad ordered. "Superman, I will take you to where the other villains are."

"But there's still Psimon," I said as soon as Artemis had removed the duct tape from my mouth.

"Psimon isn't here," Robin II said. "We got a call from Batman just before we came in here; apparently Psimon is immune in to portals, unless he enters them by choice, because he created them."

"So it's over then?" I asked.

Robin II nodded, "I'm goin' home."

In about 3 minutes and 27.4 seconds, Artemis had us down. Man, that girl had skill!

We all walked to the portal together. Blackfire was still drugged, while Mad Mod and Control Freak were squirming against their binds.

We threw the villains through the portal, while Robin II stayed back.

"It was us, nice to meet you all," He said, then looked at me, "Especially you."

"You too," I said, shaking his hand.

"Wait, why does Robin get to meet his alternate self, but none of us do?" Wally asked as Robin II made his way up the stage to the portal.

"Because, KF, if you met your alternate self, you would be having nightmares for years," Robin II replied, before waving goodbye and stepping in through the portal to Jump City. His hair still flattened to his head.

"I bet you anything the first thing he does when he gets back is puts more gel in his hair," I said as we began the walk back to the mountain.

After it was established that the mountain needed a major fix, we all sat down on the couch, Superman included, after he reported back to Batman. He figured he needed a break.

We turned on the screen, but instead of the grey fuzz that was normally there upon pushing the on-switch, there was a giant S symbol. What the S stood for, I had no idea, but then there was some fuzz, and a face showed up.

The face had an orange and black mask, but that was all I could see of it. "Robin, you have evaded me long enough. We may be in a new world, but you can not escape me that easily. I am giving you one last chance to come and join me. If you choose to decline this offer, your friends will die. You have two hours. Lose your friends, or join me. You can not get away, for no matter where you run, I will hunt you down and find you."

The face disappeared and was replaced by the massive S symbol again, which, after a minute, turned to fuzz.

…To be Continued…


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Ok, so for all of you short term memory loss people, here's the deal… AGAIN! I don't own Young Justice, nor do I own any of these characters, Teen Titans or not Teen Titans… so just… back off!

Chapter 8

Knocking on Heavens Door

As soon as the message faded out, Superman had called Batman. Which meant that Daddy Bats was on his way. It really was true that when I wasn't anywhere near Batman, every freaking criminal decided to use me to piss Bruce off. Yeah, it really sucked.

But this guy? He was different. He wasn't trying to get to Batman; he wanted me and me only.

"What are we supposed to do?" Wally asked, obviously panicking.

"Nothing," I replied. "We only have two options; I go or you all die."

"First of all, we need to figure out why we didn't know he was here before," Bruce said. "Robin II seemed to believe that it was only him, Psimon, Control Freak, Cinderblock, Mad Mod and Blackfire. Psimon didn't come through, though, so this man must be the fifth villain."

"If Robin II were still here, he could tell us who he is at least," I said.

"Have you tried to get playback on the video?" Bruce asked.

"I've tried everything," Superman said. "It was gone as fast as it came in."

"Bruce, I need to talk to you," I said. I had a plan. Bruce wouldn't like it, but it was all we had.

"About this? He asked. I nodded, "We'll be back," he told the others.

We walked into my room and sat down on the bed.

"You need to kill me," I told him, flat out.

"No," Bruce said.

"Bruce, it's the only way. If I don't join him, he'll kill everyone. I can't lose everyone I care about, not again."

"Dick, I'm not killing you."

"Then I'll find someone else who will."

"What makes you think that dieing in the only way out?"

"Because, if I'm dead, then he won't go after you guys for me not joining him, because I would have joined him."

"What are you talking about?" Bruce asked. "You don't actually intend on going along with this, do you?"

"I'm taking one for the team. My life in exchange for theirs. Please, Bruce."

"_If_ we do this, what makes you think he won't just kill you when you join him?"

"He obvious had some kind of obsession with Robin II. If he thinks that I'm the other Robin, then he won't kill me. He wants me to join him."

"So we put a tracker on you, and after he takes you to his hideout, I follow and kill you?"

I nodded, "It'll have to be a small tracker; something he won't see."

"Your suit already has a tracker in it," Bruce said. "I had Alfred install it when you got the new one."

"Then I need to go to the Batcave and get it."

I went to leave, but he grabbed me before I could. He wrapped his arms around me and held me there.

"No matter what happens, Dick, I love you."

"Love you too, Dad," I said. I didn't even realize it had come out, but in the heat of the moment, it just seemed right to say.

I felt tears forming, so I wiped them away before Bruce could see them dripping down beneath my sunglasses. I was terrified, but I couldn't show it. I had to be strong now. Suddenly, it felt like what little bit of my childhood I had left was taken away, as I was leading myself to the slaughter.

I didn't say anything to the team as I went to the portal to the Batcave. Bruce would explain to them after, to save the pain of them knowing that I would be dieing for them. All for one and one for all.

When I got to the Batcave, Alfred was there, working on the car.

He stood up when he saw me and said "Hello, Master Richard. I wasn't expecting to—"

"Al," I said. "Can you just call me Dick? Just this once?"

"Alright… Dick," he said. It sounded weird hearing him not calling me "master" but it didn't matter.

I couldn't help but run over and hug the old man. I know, I was being really emotional about this, but ever sense Bruce took me in, Al had been like my grandfather.

"Al," I said. "You deserve to know, after doing all this for me. We just got a message from a villain, and he wants me to join him, or he's going to kill the team."

"I'm sure you will find a way through it."

I shook my head, "Bruce is going to kill me. Literally, this time, so… I guess this is goodbye, Al. You were a great friend."

I didn't look at Alfred's face, but I could feel little drops of water falling onto my head. I knew he was crying.

"Is there another way?" He asked. Alfred knew from the beginning that there was always the risk of death in this business, but he never expected to hear that Bruce would be doing the killing.

"No," I told him. "Just don't be too sad, ok? Make sure that Bruce is ok after this; don't let him blame himself. It was my idea and I don't want him feeling bad about it."

Alfred simply nodded and we stood for another minute.

"I've gotta get ready; we have about an hour left."

I put on my suit and went back to the mountain. The team was waiting, oblivious to what was happening.

Bruce was in a corner whispering to Superman, probably telling him what we were doing. The look on Superman's face spoke volumes as he glanced over to me out of the corner of his eye.

Superboy looked at me suspiciously. He knew; he had to. Bats and Supes were standing in the corner talking and there was someone with super hearing sitting a few yards away.

I went over to Bruce and whispered something to him. He thought for a minute, then nodded his approval.

I went to my team and looked at them all; Wally was trying to flirt with M'gann, who kept chancing glances at Superboy out of the corner of her eye. Artemis was twirling an arrow in her fingers, and Kaldur was simply sitting, seeming to be thinking.

"Guys, Bats said I can tell you my identity," I said. "But no matter what happens today, no one can know who I am, ok?"

They all nodded. Batman didn't seem to be paying attention, so I just pulled off the mask. "My name is Richard Grayson. My parents were acrobats and we preformed for Haley's Circus, until they were murdered by a mobster, Tony Zucco."

"Why is Bats letting you tell us now?" Wally asked, still playing dumb for the team about knowing.

"Because I want you guys to know," I replaced the mask and sat there, waiting, until the man finally showed up.

He entered through one of the fresh holes in the mountain, followed by several men with guns, a couple of them holding kryptonite.

"So, Robin," he said. "Have you considered my offer?"

I nodded, "You'll leave my friends alone if I go?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?"

I stepped forward, "Then I'll go."

Wally looked furious, "Rob, you can't!"

"That's a good boy, Robin," the man said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

Batman stayed calm, but I could tell he was fuming on the inside.

"Batman, do something," Artemis said, almost begging. "Superman?"

The League members just stood there, waiting.

"Well, I guess we'll be off, now that I have what I came for," the man said, leading me outside. He tried to help me up the ladder, but I simply refused, telling him I could do it myself.

I could hear Kid Flash behind me; I looked back and saw Batman blocking his path, while he pounded on my father's chest, screaming "How could you just let him go?"

The hideout was an old abandoned warehouse. Extremely cliché, if you ask me.

"Now, Robin, make yourself at home," the man said, motioning to a cot in the corner. It seemed pretty well furnished, considering that he had only been in this world for a day.

I sat down on the cot, trying my best to act like Robin II. I stayed quiet and traught.

After a few minutes, the man came over to me, "Now, Robin, let me see if you've improved since we last fought," he said, motioning for me to the center of the room.

I took a stance and he came at me, punching, jumping, and dodging. He did a lot of the same things I did, but he couldn't do some, because he was so much bigger than I was, so I actually caught him off guard a couple of times.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow moving. Bats was there, which meant that I was almost out of time.

"You've gotten better," the man remarked.

Before anything else could be done, the shadow was falling from the ceiling. I felt myself wrapped in Batman's arms, one last time. I felt him shaking; he must have been close to tears under the mask, but I couldn't blame him.

"Batman?" I asked.

"You betrayed me, Robin."

"It had to, it was the only way!"

"No, this is the only way, traitor," he said, taking out a Baterang.

He cut me, one, two, three, times. Slade stood there, dumbfounded, before he started screaming. I was bleeding everywhere in Batman's arms and could hear him crying, as if he had just realized what he had done.

I heard a burst of wind and barely saw Wally. He was shocked and terrified at what Batman had done.

Then the light was getting closer, brighter, and there were my parents, getting closer. Mom was in her wedding dress; white, flowing, with a veil in her hair. Dad was in a tux, his hair parted to the side. It looked almost like they were reliving their wedding day, as they stood in front of a door with a massive, golden cross on it. It looked like the door of the church that they got married in.

I spoke to them. It wasn't long, but I spoke to them! And then the light was fading, and Mom called one last thing to me, _"His name is Slade,"_ she said, before I was returned to the pain, the darkness, and the cold.

…To be Continued…

**A/N: Ok, I really didn't want to put you through the entire conversation he had, all over again, so I just kind of skipped to the end… sorry. I also didn't want to make this too long, either, so please forgive me. Hope you liked it. ^^**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Ok, so my mom loves me and decided to get me soup and Fritos yesterday… which means I had soup for lunch and am now sitting here, eating Fritos, because they are, like, the food of the gods! Anyone else like 'em Fritos?**

…**anyway, back to the story, because I just looooove torturing Robin!**

**P.S. this chapter is written in normal POV, because that makes it easier to explain what's going on. Next chapter will be back to Robin's POV ^^**

**Dis*******: Ok, now look what you've made me do! I'm running out of freaking creative ideas! Can this please be the last time I do this for the story? Because, I think I've made my point, and it's just getting point-LESS now! (I had to put a line in there, because stupid Microsoft doesn't like my grammar…) So here's the deal, I don't own Young Justice, ladedadeda!**

Chapter 9

_I'd turn the machines off…_

As soon as Bruce caught Dick his in arms as the boy fell to the ground, it hit him what he had just done. He killed his son. Batman never killed, especially not the victims, and yet he had done it. He had killed Richard John Grayson, his adoptive son, and his partner.

"Batman…" Wally's voice came to him. "What did you do?"

Superman flew in before Batman could reply. "Where did he go?"

Wally looked up. The masked man was gone; his cries of anger had long since faded into the early evening

"I killed him, Wally," Bruce said. "Back at the mountain, he asked me to."

"Why would you do it?" Wally screamed, running over to the closest wall and pounding his fist into it, over and over. "We would have thought of something!"

"There was no time. It was all we could do."

"He wasn't supposed to die like this!"

"Kid Flash, he chose this. He died to save your life, along with everyone else on the team."

"All for one and one for all," Wally whispered under his breath, so only Superman could hear. "It's what we always said."

"Which is exactly what he did," Superman said.

"Br…ce…" a voice chocked out.

Bruce looked down at the figure, lying in his arms. Then he felt it; the slight up and down movement caused by breathing.

Superman looked amazed, "he's alive."

Wally stopped his pounding and tore his eyes from the ground to look and see his best friend, trying to pull off the mask on his face.

"Dick, we're going to get you to the Watch Tower, ok?"

Dick slowly nodded. "I saw… them…"

"Don't try to talk," Bruce said.

"I saw… my… parents."

"Superman, take him," Bruce said, obviously trying to ignore the younger boy, hoping that if he didn't get a response, he would stop.

"They said… to come… back and… be with… you."

"Stop talking," Bruce said as gently as he could as Superman lifted the boy into his arms.

He wanted to hear what his son had to say, but he was afraid that it would waste his energy. "Tell me later."

"You'll meet me at the Watch Tower?" Superman asked when he got to the door of the warehouse.

Bruce simply nodded and turned to Wally. "Go back to the team and let them know what's going on."

"I wanna stay with Dick."

"You can't."

"Why not? He's my best friend!"

"Because, right now I need you to let the team know that everything is fine."

Wally didn't argue anymore; he sped off to the mountain.

Bruce exited the warehouse and made his way to the Batmobile. From there, he returned to the Batcave, where Alfred was waiting.

"Did you do it?" Alfred asked, looking saddened.

"He's alive, if that's what you're wondering. But just barely."

Alfred breathed a sigh of relief. "Just get him through this, Master Bruce."

Bruce nodded before making his way through the portal to the Watch Tower.

"How's he doing?" He asked upon seeing his ward lying on one of the beds in the medical wing. Black Canary was placing an IV in his arm and looked up to reply.

"He's hanging in there," she said. "His heart stopped at one point, so J'onn worked some of his magic and hooked him up to some Martian machines."

"But he is stable?"

She nodded, "Now all we need to do is wait for him to wake up."

**Two weeks later**

Two weeks passed, and Dick didn't move. He was still alive, but mostly with the help of the Martian technology. The team wasn't allowed to see him; Batman refused to move him from the Watch Tower or let anyone else in.

Bruce barely slept and refused to eat, except for once every few days when he would find an energy bar. He sat at Dick's side the whole time, ignoring everyone.

"Bruce, you need to get some sleep," Superman said finally.

"Not until he shows some sign of being in there. It's my fault this happened."

"No, it's not. It was his choice."

"Kid Flash was right; we could have figured out something else."

"Bruce, there was no time, that man was coming after him either way."

"Then we should have hidden him away and taken care of it ourselves!" Batman shouted. He had long since given up trying to be quiet around Dick to prevent waking him up.

"Robin wouldn't have wanted that," Superman said. "He would have fought you as hard as he could on it."

"He would have had no choice."

"And he would have been found eventually. We're running out of time; as much as it pains me to say it, I think it's over, Bruce."

"It's not over. He's not dieing before I am!"

"J'onn's technology can't hold out for much longer!" Superman said, then looked Bruce over, "And neither will you."

"He needs me."

"What he needs is for you to not die while waiting for him," J'onn's voice sounded as the Martian walked over.

"What do you know?" Bruce asked.

"He told me," the Martian replied. "He was able to sense me when I read his mind, and he wanted me to make you rest. Batman, Robin is fighting right now, telling me that he isn't allowed to die yet, because you need him. He needs you, but not like this."

"Can you tell me what he's thinking now?" Bruce asked, looking down at the small figure in the bed.

J'onn paused for a moment, simply staring at Dick. "He's worried about you. He says he doesn't want you to die waiting for him, and he'll be back soon. He just needs a little more time. He said he's still feeling a little distraught about this, and is waiting until he is… traught."

Bruce smiled, "sounds about right." He stood up and took one of Dick's hands in his own, "I'll be back, son."

After that, Bruce began sleeping and eating again, for Robin's sake. About three days later, he got a call in the middle of the night from the Watchtower. "What is it?" He asked, worry rising in his chest.

"He's awake," Superman said on the other end. He woke up screaming and asking where you were."

"I'll be right there."

Within five minutes, Bruce had made his way to the Watchtower where Dick was lying in the bed, panting and looking around at his surroundings.

"Did you… get my… message?" Dick asked when he saw Bruce.

Batman nodded, "Are you feeling traught now?"

Dick chuckled, "Oh yeah… where's… Slade?"

"Slade?" Bruce asked.

"His name… is Slade."

"How did you—"

"My parents… told me."

Bruce looked at his son as if he were crazy, but it didn't matter. Dick was alive, which meant that in a few weeks, things would be back to normal… well, as normal as life could be for a bunch of superheroes.

"Slade got away," Bruce said. "But we can go after him as soon as you feel up to it."

"No time…" Dick said. "The screen… will be… long gone… by then."

Bruce took the hint and nodded, "I'll start asking around."

…To be continued…

**A/N: So, I discovered, I really don't like this one as much as Walking with Insanity… cuz I don't really have any insane people in here….. oh well! I still got Slade and a really sexy Robin **


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: ….…...

Chapter 10

The Hardest Part of Ending is Starting Again

There were no leads on Slade, but Batman able to convince the workers for the concert to leave the screen behind—after discovering they were a local band and would be leaving in a week—after telling them that it was for a good reason and he would buy them a new, better working and easier to transport one, they gladly agreed.

So it had been two weeks since Batman killed me and I was finally allowed to be moved to Mount Justice, as the new security system was almost done being installed, and repairs on the mountain had just been completed.

"I'll stop by at least once a day," Bruce said as he came into the medical bay of the Watchtower. "And Kaldur will call me if anything happens."

"Which it won't," I said. I had gotten a lot more energy in the past two weeks, and the stitches had finally been removed that day, but Bruce was still reluctant to let me be on my own, let alone walk the few yards to the computer that would take me to Mount Justice where the team was waiting.

Oh no, Daddy Bats intended on carrying me there. And Wally had made sure that the whole team would be there to welcome me back—he even talked Red Arrow into joining the party.

"Bruce, I can get there myself," I whined as he began peeling away the layers of blankets. It was cold in the Watchtower, so Bruce made sure to pile on as many blankets as possible, to the point that I couldn't sleep because I was sweating so much. He meant well, but this Daddy Bats was getting pretty annoying.

"For the last time; no," he replied, leaning down. "Now hold on."

That was it; there was no point in arguing about it anymore. I reluctantly wrapped my arms around his neck as he lifted me up into his arms—one arm under my legs and the other under my back.

"Now let go," he ordered, and I did. It was extremely embarrassing, and I was pretty sure that Wally would run home to get a camera as soon as he saw the sight.

We made our way down a hall and into a large room where the computer was. I didn't bother taking it in; it wasn't worth it for the situation I was in. Any moment there would be laughter from my team as Daddy Bats came carrying my bridal style through the Mountain.

While Superboy wouldn't care less, Wally wouldn't let me live it down. I could just quit the team… but then I would still see Artemis every day. I could try dieing again, but my parents would probably never speak to me once I was with them… or I could hunt down Slade, admit what I did and join up with him… but that would be too much work, and mostly all I wanted to do right now was sleep and practice hacking into the Chinese Government's security system, without them getting any leads that could trace them back to myself or the League.

I braced myself as Bruce walked through the computer. Maybe if I faked being asleep, it wouldn't be as bad; Wally couldn't blame Bruce for not wanting to wake me up. But it was too late, because before I could close my eyes, slow my breathing and shove my head against Bruce's chest, the computer was announcing our arrival.

I closed my eyes as fast as I could, ready for the laughter of Wally. But it never came. I risked popping one eye open and glancing around. They were all standing around with smiles on their faces, but they weren't insulting smiles; they were friendly, "welcome home" smiles.

I smiled back before Bruce continued walking to the infirmary, completely ignoring the team. Wally ran ahead of us and pulled the blankets down on one of the beds, motioning for Bruce to set me down, which he did, very gently.

To be honest, I was still in a lot of pain, even though I never told Bruce. He seemed to have caught my slight wince, though, because he immediately pulled out a syringe, which I unconsciously backed away from. The last time I had a syringe injected into myself, I was with the Joker. The syringe had held a new form of laughing gas that still scarred me to this day. I still had nightmares that I would be laughing at a joke that Wally told me, but then find all feeling lost from my body and I couldn't stop laughing, because my brain was being told that it was a funny instant in which I couldn't move.

Bruce obviously caught on to what I was thinking and said "It'll help with the pain."

I nodded and shoved my head as far to the side as possible and closed my eyes. I had never minded shots or anything similar before, but after what happened, syringes had become one of my top 3 biggest fears; falling, syringes, and being alone.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mean I hated being alone all the time; I just mean Bruce dieing and leaving me by myself. Which was why I never allowed myself to get too close to him. I knew when I became Robin that there was the risk of death, or facing any of my biggest fears, so I couldn't let Bruce get too close. If he died, I had no one left. He had taken me in when no one else would, and nobody wants to adopt a 13 year old superhero.

"I'll be back later tonight," Bruce said, lifting the blankets. "I'll call the team if I find anything about Slade."

I nodded. I didn't mind not being out there now, because when Batman finally did find Slade, then there would be hell to pay. It would take Bruce a while longer to find him anyway, so I was just hoping that by the time that happened, I would be allowed to move on my own again, and be able to put in a few punches to Slade's face, gut, and other areas.

I heard Bruce walk out to the main room where the team was waiting. I then heard his direct orders of "leave him alone, don't overexcite him, and don't even think about letting him out of that bed."

I chuckled to myself. The first two rules wouldn't be followed, but the last one, the team would never let happen. They could hide the evidence of seeing me and "overexciting" me, but they couldn't be sure that something wouldn't happen if they let me out of bed.

The computer announced Batman leaving and about 4.37 seconds later, KF was in the room, taping streamers to the wall, blowing up balloons and tying them to weights, and blowing those annoying little whistle-like things that made the kazoo noises every couple of seconds, in between putting up each corner of the giant "WELCOME HOME" banner.

I felt really numb from whatever Bats gave me, but I was able to sit up and watch Wally in amazement.

"So, Richard Grayson," Roy said, coming into the room. He wasn't wearing his Red Arrow costume for once, which was nice. He was always wearing it when I saw him now, so I was able to see his face.

I nodded, "The one and only."

The team followed behind him, M'gann carrying a circular cake in her hands. It was very nicely decorated with a massive, yellow letter "R" in the middle of it, surrounded by black frosting.

"I tried to make a cake myself, but it kind of got burned," She said, setting the cake down on a table next to the bed.

"Yeah… Wally had to convince her to go out and buy one," Conner said.

"How did you get them to make you a cake with the Robin symbol on it?" I asked.

"I changed into an adult and told them that my son was a big fan."

"So dude, do you have like, really gross marks now?" Wally asked, finally done with his decorating.

I nodded, "Wanna see them?"

Wally's face lit up at the idea. He wasn't glad that Batman had tried to kill me, but he liked the idea of really nasty scars.

I lifted the loose, red shirt I was wearing. There weren't any bandages covering it anymore, now that the stitches were out and I was mostly healed, aside from the skin being extremely sensitive now. Bruce had warned that the cuts could reopen if I wasn't careful… which was why he insisted on carrying me whenever I had to go the bathroom.

Everyone cringed at the slices on my body; Bruce left two on my stomach and one on my back.

I saw Roy's gaze move from the cuts to the "J" that was still there, pink as ever. I remembered that he hadn't seen it before, only heard about it.

He looked up, meeting my gaze and shook his head slightly. He seemed almost disappointed, but not with me.

"Robin, would you like some cake?" Kaldur asked. I was looking at Roy for a lot longer than I thought, because when I looked back, M'gann was slicing into the cake with a massive knife.

"Sure, thanks," I said. "And call me Dick."

Kaldur smiled, "Of course."

"Oh, and don't tell Bruce," I added. "He would kill every one of you for giving me sugar right now. He thinks it'll kill me or something…"

Everyone in the room laughed besides Roy, who hadn't heard yet about the Daddy Bats problem, so we quickly filled him in. He had seemed tense every time we mentioned Batman, but after realizing that he really did mean well, he calmed down a little and laughed along with us.

I didn't realize it, but apparently I fell asleep at one point, because the next thing I knew, I was lying down with the blankets pulled up to my chin. The decorations were gone, and so was the cake.

I looked around the room, confused, wondering if it had been a dream. Had I fallen asleep once Batman had left?

I saw the table the cake had been on pushed as close to my bed as possible. There was a note on it that said—

_Robin, I'm disappointed, yet thoroughly amazed. I watched you die, and yet here you are, alive and almost well. I want to speak with you again, _without_ Batman interrupting us. You're special to me. –S_

…To be continued…

**A/N: Yes, I am aware that I am a sociopath who clearly enjoys making Robin's life into a living hell… but it's just SO MUCH FUN! MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-ha…ha*cough cough* haaaaaaaaahck!**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed. There was no way that the interaction between Robin and Slade was gonna be so short, no sirie!**


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: So, I am seriously running out of creative ideas for this, because it gets really boring doing the same thing every time… but for now, I do not own Young Justice or any characters…

Chapter 11

You Won't Leave Me Alone

I dropped the note and jumped away from it as if it would turn into a snake and lunge at me. In my attempt at getting away, I tumbled off of the bed, letting out a cry of surprise and falling flat on my head.

I heard footsteps running in and peered over the bed to see Wally skidding to a halt in the doorway.

"What happened?" He asked, panic evident in his voice.

"G-get Batman," I said.

He didn't ask any questions, just ran back out into the main room where I could hear the teams voices asking questions, but I couldn't tell what they were saying. My mind was in 23 different places at once and my head was pounding from falling on it.

I heard the computer announcing the arrival of Batman, but I wasn't listening to the words. The footsteps coming down the hall as Wally quickly explained what he knew, which wasn't much, considering I hadn't told him anything.

I didn't look up when Bruce came dashing in. I didn't look away from the floor as he picked up the note from the table and read it over, placing it back down and making his way over to me, pulling me into his arms.

As soon as I felt his arms around me, the tears started streaming down my cheeks, down my chin and dripping onto the cold floor. I felt one of his hands resting on my head, his fingers in between bunches of messy, raven hair.

"I'm going to find him," he said, breaking the silence. "I'm going to find him, and send him back—"

"We can't send him back," I said. "We can't send him to Robin."

"Then I'll hunt him down and throw in into prison here, and I'll make sure that he'll never be within 100 miles of you again."

I couldn't help but smile at Daddy Bats. There he was again, overprotective, but I really didn't care anymore. I didn't care that he never let me get out of bed in the past week, nor that he had grounded me for letting Artemis discover my identity. All I cared about was that he was there and would do anything to protect me.

He pulled away and looked me in the eyes, "You never finished telling me what your parents told you."

"Oh, they… they said that I couldn't die yet, because you needed me here. And they said that I could beat Slade… then they told me his name, and they were gone… it looked like they were going to get married; they looked so happy and were dressed up—my mom was even wearing a veil."

I couldn't help but get excited at the thought of it, and Bruce seemed to think it was awesome, too, because he was smiling, which looked extremely weird with his cowl still on.

"I'm going to have Kaldur stay in here with you tonight, ok?" he said, standing up. "I'm going to keep looking for Slade."

He lifted me up and set me down on the bed, which was slightly awkward, but I wasn't really noticing. Thinking about how I had seen and spoken to my parents made the situation seem better. They believed that I could beat Slade, so therefore it must have been true.

Batman picked up the note and said goodbye, walking into the main room and explaining to the team what had happened. I zoned out the rest, laying my head on the down pillow and staring at the ceiling, counting the tiles until I finally fell asleep.

When I woke up, Kaldur was sitting in the chair next to the bed, fast asleep, yet still completely alert, grabbing onto one of his water-bearers when I shifted. He opened his eyes slightly and removed his hand upon realizing that no one was there besides the two of us. He rubbed his eyes and stretched, saying "How did you sleep, Robin?"

"Good," I replied. "You?"

"Pretty well, considering how last night went."

I looked down for a second before a whooshing of wind could be heard and M'gann floated into the doorway exclaiming "I made breakfast!"

I smiled as she floated back into the kitchen and came back with a plate of nearly black bacon, completely burnt toast with yellow raspberry jam smothered onto it, and two, perfectly cooked, over-easy eggs.

"Megan, the eggs—" I started, unable to keep in my shock. I looked up and saw she had a huge smile on her face that spoke volumes.

"I've been practicing for when you came back," she said. "The bacon and toast are still in progress, but I got the eggs down!"

I couldn't help but smile at her. She had spent two weeks practicing just for this moment.

"Well," she said when I finally got over my shock and took a bite. "How are they?"

"They're perfect," I said after swallowing. Her smile grew even bigger, if it was possible, and so did mine.

She started jumping up and down in mid air, doing flips and all kinds of crazy things, until Conner came in saying "M'gann, we need to go."

She quickly composed herself and mentally changed her clothes and skin color.

"I'll try cookies again when I get back," she said, waving goodbye and floating out of the room with Conner.

Kaldur left the room and returned with his own plate of perfect eggs, bacon and toast, before returning to his seat next to my bed. We ate in silence until I finished, placing my plate on the table, and let out a huge yawn.

"Y'know, being in bed all day can really make a guy restless," I said, _Hint hint, nudge nudge!_

Kaldur didn't fall for it though, "Batman ordered me not to let you out, which is what I intend to do."

I sighed, letting my chin drop down to my chest.

Kaldur stood, picked up my plate and brought them to the kitchen before returning with a pile of board games.

"What are we gonna do?" I asked.

"We are going to play a game," Kaldur replied. "You choose."

I looked at the stack, _Guess Who, Connect Four, Checkers, Chess_... it was all two player games. I finally settled for checkers and we were about to set it up when the computer announced the arrival of Captain Marvel.

Now, don't get me wrong, he was a great guy, but he was just extremely… immature, for a man of his age.

"Ooooh I wanna play!" He exclaimed, running into the room, not really acknowledging that there were two of us there already until he looked around. "Or maybe—"

"No, you guys play," I said. "Batman would probably freak if I wasn't sleeping all day; you know how Daddy Bats gets."

Kaldur frowned, but went along anyway. He pulled a table to the end of the bed and motioned for Captain Marvel to pull a chair over.

I really didn't mind not playing; I was mostly focused on recovering so I could be out there helping Bruce to find Slade, and even though I said I wasn't, I was still constantly tired—falling asleep during the party the day before was proof.

I fell asleep within about five minutes, so I missed the game completely, but I didn't care at this point. Finding Slade was more important.

The rest of the week was the same; M'gann would make breakfast for us before going to school. While gone, Captain Marvel would play games with Kaldur and I would sleep. After, Wally would come in, followed shortly after by Artemis, M'gann and Conner. We would eat dinner in the infirmary, because no one wanted to leave me alone.

Bruce would come by after dinner to check in and report what he had discovered, but he didn't really find anything until Friday, when he returned at exactly 7:39.

"How are you feeling?" Bruce asked as he walked into the room.

"Great," I said, and I was being honest this time. I wasn't in pain anymore, and I asn't able to sleep as much while Kaldur and Captain Marvel played their games, so Captain Marvel finally left and brought some 4-player games so that I could play with them.

"Then we'll be going out tomorrow and taking Slade down."

I looked up at him, "You found him?" I asked hopefully, and Bruce nodded in return.

"I'm going to go make sure he's still there and plant a tracker in case he moves in the middle of the night. I'll be returning to the manor from there and will come and get you at 11."

"Got it," I said.

Bruce turned to leave, but looked at me when he reached the doorway, "Black Canary should be here any time to help you train."

"You mean-?"

Bruce nodded, "You're free to walk around."

"Yes!" I screamed, jumping out of the hateful bed.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Bruce said before leaving the room and exiting through the Zeta Beam.

I ran into the main room just as the computer announced the arrival of Black Canary.

"It's good to see you up and about finally, Robin," She said, before saying hello to the rest of the team. "Are you ready to get started?"

I nodded and she led the way into the training room.

"Now, we're going to start simple, but we have a lot to cover before tomorrow morning. If you and Batman are going to take down Slade, you need to be at your best."

I nodded. We started with simple sparing, blocking, dodging, and so on. I was easily able to do my usual cartwheels and somersaults, though the landings no my flips were a little off, but it was an easy fix.

We kept on training, taking a five minute break for water before continuing. The team came in at one point to watch and all sat on the bleachers, though they had to move several times when I used the wall above the seating as a push off place for a flip.

By the time midnight came, we were both panting. Black Canary and I had been continuing the same fight for half an hour until we finally had to stop and go to bed.

I walked into the kitchen to get a pitcher of water, but froze when I saw the screen on the wall in front of me.

"Black Canary," I called, and she came running into the room, stopping when she saw the screen. The rest of the team followed suit.

On the screen was a giant "S", just like the last time he left a video message.

The screen then played a "3, 2, 1…" before Slade's face showed up on it, wearing the same mask as usual.

"Robin, I hope you got my message. By the way he spoke about you, I bet you did, yet I am again disappointed. I sent that hoping that you would come and join me, but instead you insult me by sending daddy to save you, yet again."

"What do you want?" I demanded.

Slade "tsk tsked" before continuing, "Patience, Robin. Although you were never very good at that. I want to make a deal with you. You join forces with me, or… Batman dies."

I stared at him for a second before pointing out, "You can't kill Batman unless you can catch him."

"But Robin, I already have." The screen turned to a metal chair, and tied to that chair was Batman himself. Suddenly it became so much more personal that it already had been. "Now, Robin, you see that I have something over you. You wouldn't let Batman take the fall because you were too good for me, would you?"

"I am too good for you," I snapped. No one else on the team was saying anything, so I took it upon myself. I had to be strong now, for Batman. I had to take charge.

"But Robin, that's where you're wrong. You see, we're the same, you and me. I thought I explained this to you.

"Anyways, if you want to save your dearest Batman, meet me at Warehouse 13 in Gotham tomorrow at noon. Then we'll make our trade; you for him."

Before anything else could be said, the screen was flickering out back into the "S" and then the fuzz.

"We need to stop him, now," I said.

"And what will that do?" Black Canary asked. "Slade may not even be there right now. We just have to wait and meet him at noon tomorrow. Until then, go to bed."

I sighed, "Fine."

I made my way to my room, setting the suit on the dresser and getting into bed.

First thing in the morning, I was up, training, until M'gann came in and told me that breakfast was ready. I joined the team for that, then returned to training, doing flips, cartwheels, and battling off invisible enemies.

11 arrived, so I went into my room, pulling on my suit. I shoved my feet into the boots and slid the gloves onto my hands. I lifted the cape and pulled it over my head, then picked up the mask. This was it. I was about to go head to head with Slade. _Slade_, the villain version of Batman!

I went into the main room and began making my way to the Zeta Beam. I didn't tell the team that I was going alone. They didn't even know that I was going at all; I told them that I would let the League handle it.

"Where do you think you're going, Mr. I'll Let the League Deal with it?" Wally's voice rang out as I rounded the corner.

I was about to say "back off," but then I saw the team. All of them, standing in front of the Zeta Beam.

"You're not stopping me," I said.

"I know," Artemis said. "That's why we're going with you."

I looked and noticed finally that they were also suited up, and Roy was there with them.

Aqualad stepped up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder, "Robin, I know what this means to you, to put Slade behind bars. But you must promise that if things get out of hand, you will retreat with us."

I nodded, "Now lets go save Batman."

…To be continued…


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: ok, this is seriously not asterous anymore…

Chapter 12

Let's Kick it Up

Miss Martian put the Bioship into camouflage mode before landing behind the warehouse. It was located in a big, wide-open area, which was shocking for a city like Gotham. We walked out into the dirt and discovered that there was another warehouse set to be built in the area, which explained all of the space.

"Stay quiet and survey the area first," I said. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but Gotham was never even in the ordinary to begin with, so it didn't come as a surprise.

"Miss Martian, are we linked up?" Kaldur asked before we spilt up.

"Doing that now," she replied.

"_Let's go,"_ I said. _"And don't get caught."_

"_Do you doubt us?"_ Wally asked, a hint of sarcasm and false hurt in his voice.

"_No… but he took down Batman."_

"_We'll all meet at the front before going in,"_ Kaldur voiced.

We all nodded and ran off our own ways; M'gann to the sky, Artemis and Superboy going through the woods, and Wally, Kaldur and I circling the building. Wally and Kaldur went together to the right, so I made my way to the left.

"_So far it's all—" _Artemis started thinking, before she was cut off.

"_Artemis?"_ I asked. There was no answer.

"_Rob, what do we do now?" _Wally asked.

I thought for a second, _"Keep going. We'll find her and Bats. Supes, how do things look in the woods?"_

"_There's nothing—wait, I hear someone coming… it's—" _he didn't finish either.

"_Robin, we must retreat," _Kaldur said. _"The League will be here soon and take care of—"_

"_We're not leaving them,"_ I cut him off. _"Leave if you want, but I'm staying."_

"_Robin, you promised to go if—"_

"_If things get too crazy. Kaldur we can still take him!"_

I could hear Kaldur sigh into my mind, then finally he replied _"Fine, we'll—"_

"_Kaldur?" I asked. "KALDUR?"_

"_Robin, he's not there," _M'gann said. _"I can't see him anymore, nor do I see Artemis or Superboy."_

"_Did you see who took him?"_

"_I just saw a shadow. Sorry…"_

"_It's ok, Miss M. We'll find them."_

"_Yeah, don't worry about it, Beautiful," _Wally chimed in. _"Wait, Rob, I see something. Oh my gosh, it's huge, its—"_

"_Wally?"_ I asked. _"Wally, answer me! Miss M., come down here with me. I'm at the front now."_

"_I'm on my way."_

The doors began to open, so I pressed my back against the wall _"M'gann, hide."_

I looked up and saw that M'gann was no longer there, _"M'gann?"_

"_I'm here,"_ she replied.

A figure came outside, and I inched my way around the corner of the building, being careful not to step on anything that would make noise. Once I reached the other side, I glanced over and saw that it was Slade. He looked around a little bit, looking up, left and right. I felt M'gann land next to me and heaved a sigh of relief when the door closed again.

We didn't want to risk speaking, so we continued to send out thoughts, _"Did you see a way inside?" _I asked.

She came out of camouflage and shook her head, _"This door is the only way in or out."_

"_But then how was he getting around so easily?" _I asked.

"_There may be openings that I can't see."_

I heard an ocean sound and turned to see a foot coming out of the wall behind us.

"_Move!"_ I ordered, and we both ran to the wall with the door. I glanced over and saw Slade walking into the woods. _"Now is our chance. Let's go!"_

Miss Martian nodded and we opened the door to the warehouse and peered in. Batman was chained to the metal chair still, his face bloody and several tears in his suit.

Sprawled out on the floor next to him, their wrists tied behind their backs and then again to their ankles. It looked like Slade picked up a few tricks from the Joker.

"Batman," I whispered, running over.

He looked up slightly, "You shouldn't be here," he said. "Get out and let the League handle it."

I shook my head, "I'm not leaving without you guys."

He looked down and saw the rest of the team at his feet. He looked pissed.

"Robin!' Miss Martian exclaimed, causing me to look at the door where Slade was blocking the exit.

"Robin, well done," he said, clapping his hands slowly. "Perhaps I underestimated your Martian friend's powers."

"Let them go," I ordered. My parent's words echoed through my head; _you can defeat him. You can win._ But then they were eventually drowned out by my dark side. _He took down Batman. Batman lost to him. There's no way you can do it!_

"Robin, you've been… strange lately. You know how this works."

"How what works?" I asked. I was honestly confused out of my mind.

"I'm sure you remember my nanobots from the last time you worked for me."

"Nanobots?"

"Yes, the nanobots that I used on your friends. The thing is, Robin, I have made a new version of them, and they now run through your dear father, Batman, along with the beautiful Artemis," he walked over to the team, but I never took my eyes off of him. "Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Superboy."

"You mean the same nanobots that almost killed my friends?" a new voice rang out.

I turned and saw a figure standing in the doorway. The figure's hair was spiked up with at least a whole tube of gel, and he had a cape that was flowing in the light breeze coming in from outside.

I never thought I would be so happy to see the stick in the mud.

…to be continued…


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer:….Soooooo is it clear yet that I seriously don't own Young Justice? Please?

Chapter 13

Please don't Leave Me

"Let them go, Slade. I'm the one you want, not them."

"Robin, no!" I cried.

"You can't give yourself up like this!" M'gann said.

Robin smirked, "Fine then. Why don't you join me?" As he finished, he kicked off of the ground, jumping at Slade and twisting in the air, sticking out his leg and hitting him in the face.

I smiled, "M'gann, untie the others. We'll hold him off."

The Martian nodded her understanding being floating over to Batman, but moving onto Superboy when Bruce demanded that she save him for last.

I pulled out birderangs and threw them at Slade; they blew up about a foot away from his feet, causing him to jump back away and into Robin's staff.

I used this chance to disappear into the shadows and let out my signature cackle. I pulled out a smoke pellet and tossed it down, jumping down as the room filled with smoke.

I could barely see, but I could hear Slade moving around. I heard him in front of me, but then he was gone. I turned quickly in time to see a fist colliding with my face. I fell to the ground and blacked out for a few seconds, before looking up to see a massive, booted foot colliding with my side, cracking a couple of ribs. I rolled out of the way before he could strike me again.

"This is a nice trick you have, Robin," Slade said, his voice echoing through the massive room. "Cloning yourself in order to throw me off."

"It's no trick," Robin replied. I could see him jumping up and kicking Slade, as the man went flying.

"You should know better than to disobey me, Robin," Slade said, his voice lined with anger. "Perhaps I should remind you of what happens when you don't do as I say?"

The smoke cleared and I could hear gasps oh shock, and then pain. I turned and saw Batman, still strapped to the chair, glowing red with orange spots.

"Stop it!" Robin yelled. "I'm the one you're after, not them!"

"Don't lie to me, Robin."

I wasn't thinking. I saw Bruce in pain and my mind went numb. I grabbed a birderang and tossed it at Slade, aiming right at his chest. Batman had always told me that we never kill, but at this point, he would be dead if Slade wasn't.

Slade easily jumped out of the way, obviously expecting me to be rash.

"Come, Robin, don't be so naïve," Slade said, snapping his fingers, causing Bruce to return to his natural black and grey color.

I turned and saw Wally, Artemis, Kaldur and Superboy on the floor. Wally was the first to ask the question that was on everyone's minds.

"Dude, what was that?"

"That," Slade said, making his way to Bruce. "Was simply a demonstration of my nanobots. You now know, Robin, that I am serious. But maybe I should take a faster approach. You told me the last time we teamed up that you had a father… what if I were to get rid of this distraction?"

Before anyone could react, he pulled out a gun and shot Batman, one, two, three times in the stomach, before turning back to me.

"Now I really will be like a father to you."

And then the anger from before came back. I lunged at him, hitting him with all I had, punching, kicking, calling him names I never thought I would speak. I didn't care now; he had killed Batman. He murdered Bruce Wayne. The man who took me in when no one else would was gone.

"I. Will. Never. Join. You!" I screamed, pulling out a normal birderang and slicing at him.

"Oh, but Robin, you will," he said, snapping his fingers again and causing the team, minus M'gann to turn red again.

I kept on swinging at him, flipping over his head and going at him from behind, but he managed to dodge every hit. I finally pulled out my smaller sticks and started twirling them, stopping one to take a whack, before beginning to spin them again.

"You're getting better, Robin; channel the anger. Kill me if you can. But once you do, you'll never want to stop. Because you and I are alike in so many ways."

"We may be alike, Slade, but there's one thing you've forgotten," Robin said, coming up behind the man and whacking him with his own, much larger boa staff. "You have no friends!" Robin aimed at Slade's hand that was snapping to control the nanobots. Slade grabbed the stick with his hand before realizing what had happened.

"Game over, Slade," I said as his glove started sparking and the red and orange colors of the team started fading.

I saw Kaldur get to his feet first and pull out his waterbearers, the markings on his arms lighting up as electrified water poured from the sticks, taking the form of whips. Wally followed and Superboy followed, getting fighting stances, and Artemis knocked an arrow, taking direct aim at Slade's head.

"You're outnumbered, Slade," Robin said, spinning his staff.

"And outmatched," a new voice came in. I looked up and saw Superman flying in through the open door.

"Outnumbered, yes, but I have this—" Slade said, pulling out a chunk of Kryptonite and holding it up to Superman as he got closer. "Did you really think I wouldn't be prepared incase the Justice League intervened?"

"We can take you," I said.

"A bunch of…_sidekicks_?"

The whole team glared at him and we said in unison, "_Don't_ call us sidekicks."

"Young Justice, GO!" Robin called, pointing at Slade. Superboy and Superman were both down, but we still had a chance.

Aqualad cracked his whips on the ground, causing a wave as they flew towards Slade. Wally ran ahead, pulling his fist back, getting ready to smash it into the man. Artemis took aim with her arrow, shooting it off at the hand holding the Kryptonite. M'gann used her telepathy to undo the chains keeping Bruce to the chair, removing him from the warehouse.

"Miss Martian, get him out," I called. "Get him to the Bioship and make sure he lives."

I started twirling my sticks before running at Slade, hitting his hand as he pulled it away from the arrow. I smacked his fingers, causing him to drop the Kryptonite, which flew out of his hand. Artemis fired an exploding arrow at the offensive rock and destroyed it.

Wally ran in circles around the man, letting loose punches every once in a while, catching him off guard. Kaldur snapped the whips at Slade, hitting him in the chest and causing him to stumble back, right into Superman, who was back in the battle with the Kryptonite gone.

"Robin," Superman said, holding onto the struggling man. "Would you like to do the honors?"

I looked at Robin and we both nodded, stepping up to Slade and punching him in the face together, causing his mask to crack as he blacked out.

"Good job, everyone," Superman said, letting the man slide to the ground.

I ran off before anyone could stop me. I ran to the ship, where M'gann was tending to Batman. I didn't stop until I reached the ship. At that point, I wasn't really sure what I was doing. I wanted to Bruce to tell me that it was going to be ok, that I wasn't about to loose him, just like I lost my parents. But then I remembered that inside the Bioship was Bruce, bleeding out from three bullet holes.

I regained my bearings and entered the ship. "How's he doing?" I asked.

M'gann seemed to be surprised by my tone of voice. Since joining the team, she had never heard the worry laced in my voice that was there now.

"He's holding in there," she replied, then noticed the expression no my face. "He'll make it. How are you doing?"

I shook my head, "a couple of broken ribs, nothing serious."

"No, Robin, how are you doing?"

I let my head fall. I didn't know what to say, and I especially didn't want to cry in front of M'gann, but I couldn't help it. The tears started flowing down my face. Before I knew what was happening, M'gann had her arms around me and gently pushed my head onto her shoulder.

"He's going to be fine," she said, rubbing her hand through my hair.

I slightly nodded against her shoulder. In the back of my mind, I believed her, but right now my brain was screaming at me that he was going to die.

I heard the team making their way towards the ship, but I didn't care at this point. All I could do was stand there in M'gann arms, unable to stop the tears that continued to stream out from behind my mask.

"Dick…" a voice behind me said, very weakly.

I lifted my head and saw Bruce lifting his head up slightly.

"You're ok…" I said, almost in disbelief, running over to him and wrapping my arms around his neck.

"You're not getting ride of me that easily," Bruce said smiling.

"Let's get him to prison," Superman said, coming into the ship with Slade, wrists and ankles tied, flung over his shoulder.

"Let's," I said.

…To be continued…

**A/N:** **Soooo I kind of forgot that Roy was in there… so let's just say he never was, k? haha so just kind of ignore the little bit about him being there in chapter 11. I will have the next and final chapter up either tomorrow or Thursday, but I wanna make it good. I have a really epic plot for it, and also for the next story, which will be called Walking with Disaster. ^^**


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: Ok, since this is the last one for this story… I do not own Young Justice, or any characters who have appeared in this story.

Chapter 14

Carry on, My Wayward Son

**Three weeks later**

I woke up yet again, panting from another nightmare. It wasn't about the Joker, but about Slade, and Bruce. I had almost lost him, and couldn't seem to get over it.

I crept out of my room in the mansion and into Bruce's, where he was lying on his side, the pain of the bullet wounds long forgotten. I stealthily made my way to his bed, just to be sure he was still there. I know it was stupid, but I just had to be sure before I went back to bed. It was how every night had gone the past few weeks; I would wake up from a nightmare, the memory of Slade shooting Bruce playing over and over again, then creep into Bruce's room and check on him.

I heaved a sigh of relief when I saw he was in bed, still breathing. I began my trek back to the door when I heard a voice behind me.

"Dick?" Bruce asked. I froze, unsure of what to do. He didn't need to know that I was worried. "Come here."

I made my way back to the massive, king size bed. I looked at the ground, embarrassed.

"What are you doing?" Bruce asked, sitting up and clapping his hands, causing the lights to turn on.

I blinked several times as my eyes adjusted to the light, "Just, uh…" I was at a loss for words.

"You were checking on me again, weren't you?"

I looked up and saw a worried expression on Bruce's face. I still didn't say anything, so he continued.

"You don't have to worry, Dick. I'm fine."

"I know… but…" I started, unsure of what to say.

Bruce had a knowing look now, "You've been having nightmares again, haven't you? Is that why you've been doing so badly in school; getting Cs and falling asleep during class?"

"How did—"

"I got a call from the principle, Dick. They were worried that something was going on here."

I dropped my head again. It was true; I had been doing badly in school, though I didn't tell Bruce. I didn't want to stress him out, and I couldn't be sure what he'd say if he found out I was stressing over him. I also still didn't want to admit that I was having nightmares about Slade.

I felt his hand under my chin, lifting my head up to look at him. "You don't need to be ashamed of being afraid, Dick. You're still just a kid."

"But I'm not just a kid, Bruce," I said. "I'm Robin, the Boy Wonder. I'm Batman's partner… I shouldn't be afraid of anything."

"Robin shouldn't be," Bruce corrected. "But Dick is still a 13 year old boy who lost his parents to a murderer. Dick Grayson is allowed to be as afraid as he wants."

That hit a nerve. I hadn't once thought of Dick and Robin being two different people. I mean, I did, but not in that way. Ever since I became Robin, it had been nothing but courage and nerves of steel for both Dick and Robin. But now it didn't have to be anymore. Dick could admit to being afraid for the life of the man who took him in when no one else would while Robin could still be fearless.

I didn't realize I was clenching my fists until I felt my nails digging deep into the flesh, creating tiny cuts in my palms. I let the barriers collapse, crumbling down like the walls of Jericho.

"I-I thought you were gonna die…" I finally said. "So close to the anniversary…"

Before I realized that Bruce was moving, I felt his strong arms around my shaking body, lifting me up into the bed. He lay down next to me, keeping his arms around me as I sobbed into his chest. I didn't expect it to last for so long, but the next thing I knew, the sun was up and Alfred was rushing into the room.

"Master Bruce, Master Richard is—" the man started saying, but was hushed by Bruce, who obviously thought I was asleep.

"He's right here, Alfred," Bruce whispered.

I finally opened my eyes, rubbing the gross little croutons of sleep out of them and looking at Bruce, who smiled down at me.

"Feeling better?" He asked.

I nodded, "Thanks… for last night."

Bruce smiled, "it's what I'm here for."

Alfred cleared his throat, obviously not wanting to ruin the moment, "breakfast will be ready in a half an hour."

"Thanks, Alfred," Bruce said, before turning to me. "Go get ready for school, Dick. I'll see you downstairs."

The rest of the day was uneventful. I got through school without falling asleep during class, I sat with Artemis at lunch, then continued on with school as Dick Grayson. I went to the mountain with Artemis, where we did homework together—I had to help her with pre-calculus homework—and then I played video games with Wally.

It was nice being Dick with the team, and not Robin. I was glad that I hadn't been killed by Bruce like I had planned, but I was also glad that because of the attempt at death, I had been able to reveal my identity to the team.

I went home for dinner after discovering that Bruce would be working late, then finished the last of my homework.

I got a couple of hours of training in before Bruce came into the gym and told me to go to bed, because it was, of course, a school night.

I said goodnight and made my way up the stairs, passing the den on the way, where I heard Bruce and Alfred talking.

"—Are you sure it would be wise, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked.

"He's been living with us for four years, Alfred. I think it's time."

That caught my attention. They were talking about me.

"It will be his choice, I take it?"

"Of course," Bruce said. "I'll talk to him about it on Sunday, _after_ the anniversary."

"That would be a wise decision, Master Bruce. Goodnight."

I heard Bruce's heavy footsteps making their way to the good, so I bolted up the stairs and into my room, silently closing my door. I wanted to know what they were talking about, but I just had to wait until Sunday. That gave me four days to get creative.

The next three days passed as slowly as they possibly could. Then Saturday came… the anniversary of my parents' death. I wondered if Robin II ever had these days where he just wanted to curl up and die with them.

I didn't go to the mountain that day, but the team understood, now that they knew who I was. I stayed in my room most of the day, playing around with my holographic computer, until at around sundown, Bruce and Alfred took me out to the cemetery where my parents were buried.

I sat on a blanket by the grave for a little while, Bruce next to me with one arm around me.

"I've been thinking about them a lot, Bruce," I said. "About what they said to me."

"That they want you to stay here?" Bruce asked.

I nodded, resting the back of my head into the crook of his shoulder, right around his armpit staring up at the sunset.

"They seemed so happy still, even though they were dead."

"Dick, I need to tell you something," Bruce said, and I tilted my head up at him. "When Slade shot me, I saw them, too. It was strange, but they asked me to take care of you. They thanked me for the past four years, and taking you in, but they wanted me to do something else."

"What?" I asked. Maybe this was what he wanted to talk to me about? It wasn't Sunday, but he may have decided that today would be the best time to say it.

"They asked me to adopt you."

I looked at him like he was crazy, so he continued before I called a psychiatrist.

"It's completely up to you, though, if you want to do that. You can stay my ward, if you want, and it will be how it always was."

The look of disbelief turned into the biggest smile I think I ever had since my parents died. I threw my arms around him and nodded my head, over and over. "Yes, Bruce. I would love that!"

He nodded and returned the hug, laughing as I pulled away, running to Alfred, screaming "Al! Did you hear that?"

Alfred smiled and nodded, a few stray tears making their way down his face.

Bruce picked up the blanket off the ground and came over to us. "Let's go home," he said.

Alfred took the blanket and went ahead to the car. Bruce put a hand around my shoulder as we walked off towards what was left of the sun.

The next day when I arrived at the mountain, everyone was there, sitting on the couch.

I couldn't keep the smile from breaking through, and Wally was the first to notice.

"Dude, what's with the look? Wally asked. "Did Bruce give you a giant sundae or something?"

I shook my head, "Bruce is adopting me," I said.

Wally's eyes lit up, "So like, you're gonna be his heir now? And be extremely rich, and call yourself a Wayne?"

I nodded, "I may stick with Grayson, though. I'm not sure yet."

Kaldur came over and put a hand on my shoulder, "this is joyous news, Robin," he replied. The team still had a hard time remembering to call me Dick, so I had finally told them to call be Robin if they wanted.

Superboy was smiling, and Artemis came over to hug me, also smiling. M'gann looked confused, so we explained to her what it meant that Bruce was adopting me, and she floated over and threw herself into my arms, hugging me, before lifting me into the air and spinning in circles. She then sped into the kitchen and started pulling things out of the fridge to make a cake.

"People on earth celebrate with cake, don't they?" she asked, cracking eggs into a bowl.

We celebrated together, turning on music and eating cake. Roy finally showed up at one point, saying he was just checking in to make sure we hadn't died yet, but stopped short when he saw the balloons everywhere, and the almost completely eaten cake that M'gann had finally perfected.

"What's going on?" He asked, looking angry that he hadn't been invited.

"Dick's being adopted!" Wally screamed, running circles around Roy.

"That's great!" Roy said, trying to make his way to me, but couldn't get through Wally, so he just stood there, before asking, "did you give him sugar?"

We all laughed and Wally stopped short, "Hey!"

The laughter continued, and Wally finally joined in after making a joke about Roy.

An hour later, I returned home and made my way to my room, where I changed into my pajamas and collapsed onto my bed, sleep engulfing me as soon as my head hit the pillow. I woke a few hours later and found the blankets pulled up to my chin and the light off. I drifted back to a restful sleep again. No nightmares, no memories. Just dreams of what the future could hold, being called Richard Wayne. But until the adoption is finalized, my name is Richard John Grayson, and I walked with death, and I survived.

…The end…

**A/N: Another story dully delivered! Though, I must say, writing this has been anything but dull! With the amazing reviews from all of you, the plot bunnies attacking, and the extensive party rocking, this has been an amazing week and a half. I just want to thank every one of you on Deviantart and Fanfiction, for reading and reviewing. This story wouldn't have been possible if not for all of your amazing support! Look out for the third and final story in the Walking series, Walking with Disaster! ^^ ~LOG**


End file.
